Rude as a Rule…

I find it strange that in today’s American society when everyone is expected to issue gut-wrenching apologies for the slightest transgression, rudeness rules.

People have to issue apologies for thinks done years ago but each and every day, folks do inconsiderate things with apparently no consequences.

Just the other morning, we went to breakfast with our daughter and son-in-law and I was at the cashier station waiting to pay my bill.

In front of me was a couple apparently unfamiliar with the process of paying for services rendered.

The female half  of the the couple finally decided on using a credit card after performing a card-shuffling trick that would make any magician gaze in wonderment.

But, before we could insert the credit card, she remembered having a coupon on her I-phone.

The search began with occasional stops to comment on a news headline or a Pinterest message.

The safari eventually concluded with ” guess I can’t locate that coupon”  but not before we shared a cute photo of a fluffy something that some people call a dog.

Before they finished, I thought I was going to have to buy my party lunch.

Speaking of rudeness, let’s talk about shopping carts.

Retail outlets provide “cart corrals” throughout their lots but it seems few shoppers put their empty carts there unless they park next to it.

Maybe that’s more of a laziness issue than rudeness.

And while we’re shopping, what about America’s “math crisis”?

“Express lanes” have signs posted stating the number of items permitted to use them.

Yet, I often see people obviously shopping for the Walton Thanksgiving dinner as they struggle to push their grocery-laden cart through the “express line”.

I want to take that plastic conveyor belt”Berlin Wall“  that separates your goodies from theirs to rap them on the noggin and ask them how many times did they have to repeat 3rd grade math.

Why do these same people always have coupons to redeem in a booklet the  size of the Old Testament?

If I wanted to “hurry up and wait”,  I would have made the military a career.

How about pulling out of a parking lot onto a highway and you encounter another motorist on the other side of the same highway and you’re trying to guess whether they’re going straight or turning right of left?

Now I know cars are getting pretty fancy these days but I haven’t heard about the “ESP turn signals” some models evidently have.

Driver’s Ed drop out maybe?

Meanwhile, where I work, the parking lot empties into the street about 3 car lengths from a busy intersection.

As I head home, more often that not, someone will block my entry onto the road by stopping in from of our ingress and egress.

At the same time, they lose their peripheral vision, somehow thinking if they avoid eye contact with me, I’ll just go away.

It’s obvious they realize they’re blocking me but they stare straight ahead, oblivious to my desire to go home.

They should be happy I can’t covert my vehicle to a bulldozer with the press of a button.

Then there’s the drive-through.

Am I the only person who gets in the line behind the motorist whom is buying supper for the Colts and has to count each French fry before they pull away from the window?

Listen.

I know some eateries are infamous for their ability to screw up an order but why not pull ahead and conduct your chicken nugget census before my milkshake turns into chocolate milk.

How about a little consideration for your fellow man?

I used to play “drive through “Bingo” where I’d place my order and then, like a kid at Christmas opening gifts, I’d wonder with wide-eyed amazement to find what I actually got.

What about drivers in the passing lane oblivious to the the posted speed laws?

The same goes for the driver who passes you on the double yellow line so he can be 15 feet ahead of you when the traffic light turns red.

Inconsiderate and wreckless at best.

We now have parking spaces for those with special needs and even expectant mothers but there’s still a segment of society that feels parking in the fire lane is in the Bill of Rights.

Parking there will not make America great.

You know they’d be the first to sue if a firetruck hit them responding to an alarm.

I suppose it’s more lazy than rude.

Why do I always get behind this individual when I run into the convenience store to get a pack of gum?

They want 6 of these lottery tickets and 5 of those and 3 of the other and they have to scratch-off their purchases and immediately redeem a two dollar winner for more lotto ducats.

Meanwhile, I know their bottle of Red Pop is getting warm and I’m sure they’ll also need a pack of cigarettes before the gambling concludes.

Rude.

And then we have cell phones.

Party lines went out of style back in the 50’s so I have no real desire to listen to just half of your conversation as you wander aimlessly through the aisles of the store, usually down the middle so I can’t pass your loud voice.

Is anything really that important that you can’t wait until you’re someplace more private?

My luck is they’ll get the booth behind me at the restaurant.