Friday, September 29, 2006

Rudeness in America

So yesterday I went to Target on my lunch break to pick up yet another pair of headphones as mine keep managing to end up with a loose wire, I swear I am going to be more careful with this pair and not ruin them in 3 months as at $10 a pair, that isn’t a cheap way to deal with things!!

Anyway, while I was checking out, I witnessed a situation in which many Americans probably find themselves in everyday and I wish I had reacted or responded. This was the situation. I went to the cashier to pay, there were two people in front of me along with an older man (I won’t call him a gentleman cause frankly he wasn’t) was finished with his transaction and had apparently paid cash. He was writing down something on a piece of paper and the cashier had put the money in the drawer and taken out his change and receipt and was in the process of trying to hand them to him. She was thanking him and was being very polite (some cashiers these days are a bit rude, but this girl was not) and trying to hand his money to him so he could move on and she could help the next customer…he was not paying her the slightest heed and was still writing on this piece of paper. She gets his attention saying here is your change and he barks at her “put it down can’t you see I’m busy?” OK, I work part-time as a cashier/bookseller a couple of nights a week and I see customers like this on occasion, thankfully more often than not I’m dealing with nice people, but crabs do come through, and I can’t say anything because I’m working…I wasn’t working here and I so wanted to say something to the effect “she was being nice to you, you should be paying attention to what is going on and take care of your personal business when you are away from the registers and not holding up the line.” Or something to that effect…the main reason I didn’t say anything though is because I was so far back it would’ve bee hard for me to get the man’s attention and he was of the type that he would’ve not cared anyway…I was always told to respect my elders, this man was older, probably mid-70s, but I’m sorry, being older does not give you the right to be rude to people, particularly when it’s a situation that you do not have to be in. If you are out in the public, you have the responsibility to at least be civil, if you’re crabby, stay home. Happiness and smiles are contagious, but so is rudeness and a person that can’t treat others with a little courtesy and respect, and treat someone as “beneath” them just because they are serving them is not appropriate ever. I’m of the belief that every person should have to work at some point as a server and/or cashier in retail or something. Just so they can see and realize how the job is and how much harder it is made by rudeness that is unwarranted. This is probably the same man who would kick a dog that walked too close to him and people like this ought to be shot. OK, so that’s not very nice, but just think how much better the world would be if things like this weren’t tolerated. I am going to make a point to say something from now on anytime I see a customer being rude to a person that is helping them. A cash resister screwing up is not the cashier’s fault, a price not being on an item is not the cashier’s fault, prices ringing up wrong are not their fault…a little decency and politeness could go a long way…

Alright, now running…this morning I got up and ran 6 miles in the dark…treadmill was not an option this morning. It just wasn’t appealing. However tonight after work I’m going to run another 3-4 (or maybe during lunch) on the treadmill just because I feel like it. My miles right now, after this morning’s run sit at 45 for the week. Tonight I’ll be at 47 or 48. I’ve decided tomorrow’s run will be most likely 17 (was debating 16-18 so I’m taking the happy medium) and next weeks will be my last long run at 22-24. I have a company picnic at Valleyfair, an amusement park in my area, tomorrow and running 24 miles and then trying to enjoy the picnic and free rides would probably not work well, so I’m going with the shorter run this week, recovery from the 20 last week and then will rest on Sunday and watch the marathon. Next week is a few less miles than this week, but still the intensity of my Yasso 800s planned and a tempo run for one last hard week and then the following Monday starts taper…wow…it’s coming up, it almost can’t be soon enough and it almost is too soon…

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your right. In todays world it seams like people are so caught up in me that they could care less who they are rude to. I really see this in the youth. We have become so much a ME society. Its sad. I know that is not true in all cases. Maybe I'm just getting old. Great job on the runs!! I'm avoiding the dreadmill until the snow flies.

Danielle said...

I agree about the youth being a big part of it...they are part of the entitlement mindset thinking they just deserve everything and don't have to be polite...but you see it in everyone. It's just too bad. I would avoid it more if I could but gets too cold, I don't mind running in snow as long as it's not too cold, but I don't deal with cold well at all!!

MNFirefly said...

I agree with that observation. Some people are just RUDE.

Good job on the run. Have fun tommorow at Valleyfair. I will e-mail about watching the TCM on Sunday.

Kurt said...

Well I am not as nice as you and I have said something to others when they are holding me up in line. You can always step to the end and do the recording in your book or whatever. The object is to keep the line moving and be in and out while being friendly!

Ginger Breadman said...

It's so depressing when older people act like that. It makes you think, "when I'm that age . . " and perhaps help you better define the kind of human you wish to be. I guess you can always hope that maybe he had an excuse - like his dog died or something. (I doubt it, though.) Maybe he'll learn a lesson through some negative karma.