This post really has nothing to do with writing but I'm annoyed so where better to vent than here!
When exactly did common decency and kindness to our fellow human beings become a thing of myth? It's not even December yet and the behaviour of the people in stores is horrendous.
I went to get groceries today and it started before I even entered the store. As I went to grab a cart, I paused for a minute to rummage in my pocket for a quarter and the lady behind me sighed heavily. As though my two second pause was the most inconvenient thing that she had ever encountered in her life. So, in an effort to be polite, I smiled and stepped aside to let her into the one row of carts that I'd been blocking. She walked past the other two rows of carts to get at them and actually huffed as she stormed away.
Ok, someone was having a bad day, I thought. And I went ahead got my cart and made my way to the doors. It was then that the little old lady ran across the parking lot and darted into the door ahead of me. The had the gall to scowl at me when I skidded to a stop so that I would run into her.
So, two people in a row in a bad mood.... ok, it happens. It soon became apparent that it wasn't just those two. In fact, I was quick to realize that I had obviously woken up in a parallel universe where it was the norm to be angry, impatient and rude. And I was clearly out of place. I was cut off, people left carts blocking off aisles and wander off, and people were bitching at the staff. I was shocked and appalled.
Somehow I managed to get my groceries at record speed and get the hell out of there. Then I saw it. The simple act of kindness that stood out against the rudeness of the entire hour that I was there. An older lady got her groceries loaded into the cab and when the driver went to put the cart back for her and retrieve her quarter. The lady said "No leave it for someone else."
That's it, just leaving the quarter for someone else. I find is truly sad that that was the one act of kindness in my entire afternoon, but that only lasted for about three seconds. Before the lady's cab even pulled away from the curb, another lady brought her cart back. She proceeded to take the quarter from her cart and the other one as well. I suppose she needed that quarter to put gas in her gas guzzling Caddilac Escalade.
Seriously though, I was left scratching my head. She was obviously not hurting for cash but she couldn't bear the thought of a single quarter sitting there for just anyone to use. She found it absolutely essential to piss all over someone else's good deed. Lovely.
The holidays are just over a month away. And of all the times in the year, wouldn't you think that this is the time for kindness and patience and just common courtesy for other human beings. I know it's a busy time of year, and I know that it can be expensive but no matter how stressed we are, there are people in worse situations.
I am organizing a huge food drive for the office that I work in. Our company has over 400 employees so I have devised a bit of a food drive competition that will go for an entire month. And I've gotten a few emails for fellow co-workers. Most have been things like asking for more details on what foods are most needed by the food bank or if they can include mittens and hats for kids as well.
But I've also gotten angry emails from people complaining about everything. I mean everything. People complaining that they don't have the money to donate, or they don't feel the prize is worth it. How can people be so petty and ridiculous over something like this? I mean, I'm broke too but I have a few cans in the cupboard of soups and pasta that I know can be used and that we won't miss.
Yes, we have a prize for the team who 'wins' the competition. The prize isn't much, just coffee and donuts for that team. Yet the prize isn't the main point of this, its the fact that an organization as large as ours can do a lot of good if we all pitch in just the littlest bit.
I'm just disheartened by it all today. I like to believe that people are inately good and kind but days like this, make me sincerely wonder if I am the abnormal one. Not that I am saying I'm better than anyone. I'm not by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe its just that my beliefs about my fellow humans are naive.
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