Sunday, October 7, 2007

Warning: NY-style Rant Ahead

I want to talk--or maybe I should say "gripe"--about the entitlement attitude.

I worked an art auction at Pindar Vineyards the other night. Had a great time, and the owner is a fabulous little Greek man. I couldn't pronounce his name, so I jokingly called him Mr. Pindar all night and he never complained!

It's time to close the auction and my co-worker and I have a growing line of customers. I'm taking people's money, credit cards and checks while she's helping them find their pictures to take home.

A woman jumps ahead of about 10 people in line, explaining, "I need to leave, NOW. Can you just ship my purchase?"

We don't like doing this, because it costs money, time, and--most important to me--it means I have to pack up the dang picture and take it back to the office!

I explain that we'd prefer she didn't, and if she just waits her turn, we will get to her shortly. About 3 minutes later, she jumps ahead again. "MY husband is ready to leave. Can't you just ring ME up?" It was a credit card purchase, so I couldn't just take her cash and send her away.

I look at the line, which is moving rapidly but not getting any shorter. I look at the two women who are next in line. "Would you mind?" I ask them, as the woman rolls her eyes at the further delay. Clearly, I should drop everything I'm doing to tend to her needs, right now. The other customers are not important.

As I'm smiling politely, my inside voices are saying: "What makes YOU so much more important than the other 10 people in line? Why is YOUR time more valuable than theirs? Go to the back of the line and wait your turn like everyone else. You're not special."

Keep in mind, this woman had no pressing reason to leave--no crying baby in her arms, no medical emergency--other than her husband wanted to go at that exact moment.

It makes me wonder what kind of child she was, growing up. I bet her parents jumped at her every whim; she got whatever she wanted simply by pouting her lower lip.

Parents like that have raised a society of adults who think their needs outweigh everyone else's.

I see this in line at toll booths in the NY metro area, too. A growing number of drivers think it's fine to ride the EasyPass lane until the last possible moment, and then jump in to the waiting line of cars in the Cash lane. Of course, their time is more valuable than everyone else's. These same people give you an attitude if you don't let them in.

My reaction? "You're either STUPID--because you didn't SEE the big CASH sign from miles away--or you're SELFISH." Either way, I don't see any need to help you.

If the NY Transit Authority took down license plate numbers and mailed tickets to every driver who tried this, they could lower toll prices by at least 50 percent.

Okay, rant's over. What do you think? What attitude annoys you most in society today?

3 comments:

Madeleine said...

This makes me recall the "Yes I Am!" comment I received a few years ago. I asked a lady in line in front of me if she was in line. She was weaving around looking at stuff by the register. She said, very meanly, "Yes I am."

Then she got to the register and argued about the price and left without buying anything. Wow.

Your lady sounds much more rude. I think she is enabling her husband to be a jackass. Maybe she is abused?

What annoys me most are bad drivers in huge gas hungry Hummers or other large trucks. They are usually alone too.

Dawn said...

Decaf,
That thought came to my mind, too. (that she was abused). But she didn't have that *fear* in her eyes over her waiting husband. She was just a self-centered you-know-what.

Wow, your pet peeve is so selfless and significant compared to mine! :)

I hate big, bad truck drivers too--esp. when they try to cut me off in the toll line. :)

Danette Haworth said...

I've been in your story many times as one of the people who follows the rules and thinks everyone else will, too.

The same thing happens on our backroads--one in particular is a two-lane road that becomes one lane. Everyone who drives down this road knows this; it's a remote area leading to a few housing developments. Yet you have those line jumpers--they drive in the passing lane until it ends then BOOM! they practically are up on two wheels careening into the single lane.

Cheater pants!