Why do Americans feel an entitlement to be rude. Everywhere you go, whether it be the grocery store, department store, state park, or amusement park, you will encounter people who are inconsiderate and just plain rude. No one asks permission to invade your space; they just assume a right to it. Too many are walking around eating and drinking and leaving their trash wherever they finish. Why should they care if someone else will come along and pick up? That’s what they get paid to do. Right—if they didn’t throw their trash on the ground or out the car window, someone would be out of a job. Perhaps if they brought down their collective noses, their eyes would be level with the mounds of trash along side our highways and by ways.
And what is wrong with the people who live along side these public roadways. If people threw trash out as they were passing by and the trash landed in the ditch in front of my house, I would pick it up. So what if you weren’t the one who threw it there. Pick it up! To let it lay there, speaks volumes about the type of person you are. It isn’t likely that the guilty party will come back and pick the trash up someday. Get over it.
Have you ever been behind someone in the checkout line who walked off and left their empty buggy in front of you. They’re finished with it, what you do with it is your problem. They don’t care that the buggy is blocking you. I had a teaching opportunity awhile back. A man in front of me at the grocery store check-out line, picked up his bagged items and walked off, leaving his buggy blocking me. I said, excuse me sir, you left your buggy. He looked back briefly and proceeded to exit the store. Less than thirty minutes later, the same man was behind me in line at Wal-Mart. I picked up my bagged items and left my buggy blocking his easy access to the cashier. He yelled, hey lady, as I was walking away. I turned and replied, there isn’t a buggy fairy after all, is there? Without speaking, he turned his red face toward the cashier. He wasn’t stupid, just plain rude. I’ve found that these entitled people don’t appreciate the same treatment by which they treat others.
