I love the holidays. The sparkling lights, the horrible smarmy music repeated over and over, the packed malls, the bustling commercial frenzy. Heck, whenever people spend money they don’t have to give people they don’t really like gifts those people don’t really want, it brings a tear to my eye.
Actually, I really do like the holidays. And it seems that enough people share my appreciate that the feeling surrounding this month is always a warm and fuzzy one. Sure, putting up with the lines and the crowds is enough to try anyone’s patience, but most seem to put a happy face on and get into the spirit of the season.
That is, until this year.
I was out doing a decent amount of shopping this year, and noticed a definite shift in attitude. No longer would people give you a smile as you passed. Instead, all around was a sea od dead eyes and dull faces. I held the door for quite a few people, and can’t recall receiving a single “thank you.” And I don’t think I got a chance to say thank you to anyone, either, as no one was willing to hold a door for me.
When it comes to lines to check out, there’s always been a grim “we’re all in this together” mentality. Not this year. Now people are only out for themselves. Cutting in line wasn’t common, but it was obvious and rude. A gentleman on a werird cyborg headset (I think there was a previous Pit thread on them) saunters up, and stands in front of us. We pointed out his behavior to him, but he insisted he had been there all along. We were at the end of the line, and it wasn’t going to make us go any slower, and so we let it slide. In the same store, my wife was standing about two feet in front of a display of GameBoy Advance games, perusing the selection, trying to pick out a game for our niece, and a woman walks in front of her and starts looking at the games herself. It’s not like there was enough space to do that, however; she had to muscle her way in.
All through the day, people would barrel through the mass of people, bumping shoulders, tossing bags against others, with nary a thought or an apology. It was as if they couldn’t see anyone else there. I’m used to people being in their old little world when they get on their cell phones, but these people weren’t distracted by any external technological device. It was as if they had drawn themselves inside somewhere, and were determined to refuse to acknowldege that anyone but themselves existed.
That really was the cruz of the problem. whether it was cutting in line, shoving people aside, or refusing to follow accepted courtesy in the parking lot, it was as if everyone was willfully shutting out everyone else. And it wasn’t just the random assholes that are always there. It was a substantial minority of people who were acting this way. I don’t remember it being this way last year, or any of the years in the past. What’s going on with people? When did they get so RUDE?
This pretty weak. I’m a bit more disturbed by this behavior than I’m letting on.
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