only if it reflects badly on me will i do it

you know, some people will only leap into action when whatever they are failing to leap into action on will reflect badly on them. who cares if the thing you are trying to get them to do will actually help other people, including their own children? they will stall and stall and stall, unless it either makes them look good at first – at which point they will do something immediately, until the last possible moment. as soon as they realize they will look bad if they don’t do something, then they do it. i think they get a charge out of thinking that they are instrumental in doing this thing, even though everyone around them had to scramble and bend over backwards in order to get them to do this thing. they enjoy watching people dance for their pleasure. again, these people are one of the problems with humanity.