I have written before about poor service and I have had very few experiences since then that would change my mind about the “service industry” and what seems to be an increasing lack of concern for other people.
Last week, our regular mailman was off and his replacement parked behind my car which was parked at the laundry. I told him I would wait since I needed to get my mail anyway when he offered to move his mail truck so I could get out. I leaned against my trunk and took out my I-phone to catch up on my “games” while I waited. A few minutes later a lady pulled up and got out of her car. I said Hi, how are you as she passed and she didn’t respond. She walked up to the postman and said “ I need my mail.” He said very politely, I will be done in a second if you don’t mind waiting. She apparently did. She stood breathing down his neck until he opened the section of the mail boxes that had her box. She rudely pushed past him as he was filling the slots, grabbed her mail out and stormed off. Ma’am he said. You can’t do that. You need to wait until I’m done and use your key. It’s a federal offense. F you she said. I’m not waiting on you and she stormed back to her car. He followed saying “ma’am, I need you to return that mail, it’s a federal offense, a felony. F you she said again and got in her car. He persisted knocking on her window and saying “ma’am I will report you if you don’t cooperate. She turned on the car. He walked behind her car and began to write down her tag number and she threw the engine into reverse, gunned it and bumped him as he jumped out of the way. Had he not moved as quickly as he did, she would have run over him. I stood watching in total amazement at what was happening. She peeled out of the parking lot and turned toward the road headed to the back of the park. I asked if he was ok as he rubbed his leg where she had hit him with her car and began dialing the police on his phone. I told him if he’d let me out I would find out which lot she lived in. He did. I drove thru the park and found her lot. She had backed into her space, probably so they couldn’t find her tag #. I drove back, gave him the number and mine in case he needed a witness and went home where I told Joe I had just witnessed a woman trying to run over the postman.
Today, at the grocery store a woman came around the corner with her cart, apparently in a hurry and bumped another cart as it came around the same corner toward her. I watched as the lady who had been bumped cut loose with a string of profanities (her small child was at her side), telling the poor little old lady who had bumped her that she was a F’ing moron that needed to watch where she was going, and replying to the “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention” uttered by the obviously regretful bumper “open your f’ing eyes. There are other people in this store. As a manager came over to find out what was going on, I resisted the urge to tell the rude lady that she needed to back off, watch her mouth around her child and act like a human being.
And then there is the daily merge onto I-44 where I swear people speed up rather than slow down to let traffic merge onto the freeway, as if the 2 extra seconds to be decent would cause them to be late to wherever they are going.
I have to admit, I have been very disheartened lately as I am out and around more and more and witness the rudeness of people up close and personal. The other day when my tire blew out on my bike and I was pushing it home I sat down at one point to rest on a bench bordering the path. It was obvious that I had trouble with my bike as the tube was hanging out and dragging the ground. I wondered how many of the people passing by would ask if I needed help. The answer? 2 out of 22 people that passed by me in the 10 minutes I sat and rested even acknowledge that I was sitting there, let alone offer to help if needed. Made me wonder if the emergency diabetic kit and information I carry with me would serve any purpose if I were truly in need. More than likely people would walk by.
Today on the news there was a story about an older gentleman that was hit and killed riding his bike in Broken Arrow. What made this story particularly disturbing to me is that the person that hit him , ran. Left the poor man in the ditch to die and drove away. Who does that? OMG How could someone live with themselves after that?
Joe and I were talking the other day about how our country has become so polarized. We were talking about how the very climate of our nation has changed. How more and more people seem so focused on themselves that they have little patience or compassion for other people. He was talking about the French Revolution and the phrase “let them eat cake”. I have to admit my historical knowledge was lacking and so I googled and read about the revolution. Turns out the phrase may or may not have really been spoken. This phrase is attributed to Maria Antoinette though it is questionable if she actually did say this. The usual interpretation of the phrase is that Marie-Antoinette understood little about the plight of the poor and cared even less.
Seems like people nowadays are in the same mindset. “Its not my problem” might be a more modern version of let them eat cake. Increasingly, it seems to me anyway that people are becoming more and more self centered and less and less compassionate. So focused on proving other people wrong and promoting their own agenda that they lose sight of the fact that there is room for disagreement and compromise.
I for one am seriously worried about the open carry law after some of the behavior I’ve witnessed lately by ordinary people. I for one will be taking grocery store corners slower in case psycho lady is shopping that day, gun on her hip. LOL
How did we get to this point of such blatant rudeness and lack of concern about others?
My brother Jimmy has a song that has the lyrics Desperate Men do Desperate things. The song is actually about something entirely different than rude people but I wonder how much of the rudeness and lack of kindness that seems to be so rampant is a result of desperation. As it gets harder and harder to meet our basic needs because of the economy and the cost of living and the lack of jobs it seems that we get more and more focused on getting our needs met without regard to others. Blaming someone else seems to be the norm today.
The success of the movie Hunger Games where it was kill or be killed and the new Television show Revolution where the world is in chaos and its kill or be killed give credence to what I feel is becoming an increasingly less compassionate, less caring humanity. Survival of the fittest. Do whatever it takes to make sure you come out ahead. If someone needs a hand, make sure you have all you need and more before you help someone else. Maybe we need a PETP People for the Ethical Treatment of People. The haves and the have nots. We are increasingly becoming a society where getting ahead is more important than helping our fellow men.
Tonight I went downtown to take Joe some food. On one of the benches waiting for the bus were 3 young men sitting and relaxing. Next to them, standing loaded down with bags was a pregnant lady holding the hand of a child about 9 or 10 years old. I wanted to stop, tell the young men to get their lazy butts off the bench and let the poor woman sit down. Maybe they offered and she refused. I doubt it but I have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Its called MANNERS people…where on earth are they?
I guess its unrealistic to think that the world could go back to being a kinder, gentler place. I’d settle for less rude at this point.
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