Not My Jurisdiction: A Ridiculous Existence

Have you ever been in a situation where someone refuses to help you with the excuse, “It’s not my jurisdiction”? If not, I’d like to switch lives with you for a moment. I, on the other hand, have witnessed this phenomenon countless times in the office, on the street, even in the middle of a checkout line when an employee firmly tells me that the cash register I’m facing is “not their jurisdiction” and tells me to move to another line, as if I were a pilgrim lost in the maze of supermarket bureaucracy.

We’re all thrown into the world without a clear map, forced to make our own way. But for many, it seems like their path is predetermined: to become part of a system that confines them to comfortable walls. And “Not my jurisdiction” is their holy mantra, a philosophical shield against unwanted responsibility.

I once experienced this in a government office. After struggling through a long line more epic than the journey of Odysseus I finally arrived at the counter. With bated breath, I held out my documents, only to be greeted with a cold smile and a sacred sentence:

"Excuse me, this is not my section."

"Then whose section is it?" I asked with a shred of hope.

"Try asking the counter next door."

I turned around. The counter next door was empty. Like an absurd existence, I stood between the choice of waiting indefinitely or resigning myself to being thrown into an uncaring world.

Of course, there was humor in all of this. Often, hell is not eternal fire or torture, but the blank stares of people who refuse to help because they feel they are not in the right jurisdiction. But if life teaches us anything, it is that we are ultimately responsible for our own choices.

Perhaps, in a world more absurd than imaginable, we should reject the binding boundaries of "jurisdiction." Because if everyone stays in their own comfort zones, who will make a difference? So, the next time someone asks for my help, I will consider one thing: not everything has to be my "jurisdiction," but I can choose to care.

Because in the end, what makes life meaningful is not the boundaries we create, but the decision to cross them.

[Image generated with the help of AI!]