Melissa Trezza
ENG40524
Debby Mitchell
Be Nice!
Why are people so rude? Sometimes I feel like the only person left in the world with any manners. People cut in front of me at the grocery store, they cut me off while driving, and I can’t even get a ‘thank you’ from a cashier! Whether it’s while driving, shopping, dining out, or going to the movies, I feel like I am surrounded my incivility. Am I the only sane person left?
The first, and most common, time that I encounter the rampant rudeness that seems to be taking over the planet is while driving. Who hasn’t experienced an encounter with a rude driver? The last time I checked turn signals were mandatory in all automobiles – so how come no one uses them? By the way, putting on your turn signal after you have already begun to brake and are in the process of turning defeats the purpose of the lever. The purpose of the turn signal is to alert other drivers that you will be turning or changing lanes before you actually do so. Another thing that irks me while driving are the people who wait until three yards before the lane merges to cut in front of another driver and merge. You cannot tell me that you didn’t see the signs five miles back warning you of the lane change or the line of cars that goes back two miles. You just thought, “You know, I don’t want to wait in line like everyone else, so I’ll just jump in front of all these suckers who have been waiting in line for twenty minutes instead.” In addition to these idiots, there are those other bleeding hearts who actually let these people cut in front of them! I say, let them wait. Let them sit there for twenty minutes like the rest of us who actually waited in line like civil human beings. I almost hate these people worse than the last-minute lane-mergers. Driving surrounded by all of these lunatics is probably the major cause of my stress on a daily basis.
Another area where I find an infinite amount of acrimony is actually where the employees are supposed to be in the business of “customer service” (I use the quotation marks here because there is essentially no such thing anymore). Most of the time I feel like I am really putting them out to ask them to do their job and serve me. I walk into stores, restaurants, movie theaters, etc. and the majority of the time I don’t even get a greeting from the staff. Often, they will not even acknowledge my presence by simply glancing in my direction. Sometimes they look at me and seem to be waiting for me to be the first to speak. It’s appalling. Aren’t you the one who works here? Shouldn’t you be the one greeting me? And God forbid I ask them a question or for their help with something! They look at me as if I just told them I was a Paris Hilton fan. As a customer departs, shouldn’t you give them a “good-bye” of some kind – maybe a ‘thank you’ or ‘have a nice day’? Well, good luck! My final thought on rude employees is this: I don’t care if you hate your job! Everyone has had a horrible job in their life. We’ve all done our time and, now, so must you. Suck it up and get over it. I waitressed for over two years. Did I like my job? No. Was it one of the most difficult jobs I’ve ever had? Yes. Was I nice and pleasant to my customers anyways? You bet. Because it was my job and it was how I would have wanted to be treated if the roles were reversed. To all the customer service workers of the world, I say, “Get over it and be nice!”
When it comes down to it, it’s not even about the jerk that cut me off or the employees who would rather me just turn back around and walk out the door – it’s the principal. It’s people’s total disregard for others. It’s their self-absorbed, self-obsessed, it’s-all-about-me attitude. Whatever happened to common courtesy and the old biblical adage, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? And why do I feel like I am the only one so bothered by this lack of respect for others? I guess I only have control over my own actions. Maybe if I put my own good manners out there, it will catch on.
