Respect

This rant has been a long time in coming...but after some things that happened today, it has finally become time to say it...

What is this overwhelming "me me me me me" thing?  It's everywhere and includes people of all ages.  I drive about 55 miles a day commuting to and from work.  I spend a great deal of that time being concerned about the crazy drivers who will do anything possible to gain a single car length because they are so much more important than anyone else on the road. 

I was in a store last week and witnessed a twenty-something guy yelling at the cashier because the register glitched.  He had to reswipe his credit card.  Oh, the horror...

A new "Five Guys" restaurant opened in our area a couple of weeks ago.  The line was out the door to place your order and then equally as long as we all waited for our food.  I watched 2 older ladies - probably in their 70's - jump the line.  No explanation, but walked in and shoved into the line to place their order.  The cashier didn't know what to do, but went ahead and took their order.  Then...they told the line cooks behind the counter to do their order first because they didn't want to wait.  When they wouldn't do that, the ladies stood there and bitched about how rude the cooks were.  Really?

Yes, really.  What the hell is going on with the world?  We have all become so completely obsessed with ourselves that we have no time or respect for anyone else.  The people who think it is perfectly acceptable to have private conversations (at the tope of their lungs!) on their cell phones as they walk about the grocery store; the people who think it is okay to yell at sales clerks because the store doesn't have exactly what they want; I just don't understand...

I realize I can be quilty of sometimes forgetting the person I am being cranky with is just the messenger.  Or I hang up on sales callers who won't let it go when I say "no thanks".  However, I try not to be too rude to them.  I know they are doing their job - as horrible as it is.

Every single person deserves respect.  We are all inhabiting the same planet and striving to survive and succeed.  I realize we can all be selfish at times, but I cannot abide the intensely superior attitude that is overtaking our society.  "I deserve..."  Right...We all deserve compassion and respect.  Just because you have some high paying job or letters after your name on your business cards does not make you better than me.

Sigh...I'm tired of being magnanimous in the face of rudeness and disrespect.  I just wish people would step back and look at their own behavior - and realize without the people they treat like crap...they would be in some serious crap of their own...

Rant over.  Thank you all for listening.