Rude people — is there no end in sight?

by James Norton

Here we go again with the rude people—is there no end in sight?

I hate complaining all the time—oh who the hell am I kidding, I love it! Before I start ranting about people and their idiosyncrasies I want to point out some of mine, so I don’t seem so soapboxadasic (no that’s not a word, genius). I’m occasionally a jerk, selfish, hot tempered, a former booze-bag, known to be arrogant and even aloof. I have plenty of nice qualities too, but I figured before I lay into the unsuspecting populous, I would at least qualify myself as a member of the general public.

In a piece I did back in November, I started in about rude people, but quickly turned into a borderline spout off about loyalty. This time I do not intend to be so easily side tracked on a subject the intended reader didn’t care about in the first place (zing!).

You don’t have to be Mr. Pink to figure out that any public place where there’s a line for people to deal with before they are personally serviced is the perfect place to start looking for rude people. The day of the week and the time of day can also lend themselves as special mixers in the cocktail of life we call NOW. Unsure of where I speak? Try any one of the countless numbers of Dunkin’ Donuts, Star Markets, liquor stores or corner stores (bonus for you if they have a Keno machine) in our fair city.

One of my favorite stories of rudeness happened this past Sunday morning in a local coffee establishment. It was around eight in the morning and there was a fairly short line in front of me. Not much noise mixing about in the place, and in walks a junk bomb gacked to the hilt looking for that extra push of caffeine to send his neurons over the edge. He walks right by me and the three people in line in front of me and starts ordering. Ten years ago I probably would have grabbed him by the back of the head and and embedded my claddagh ring in his forehead. Age and a level head kept me to a simple “where the **** do you think you’re going?” out of my mouth. The guy ignored me. The guy in front of me, who was at least six inches taller and ten pounds heavier than me decided he was going to ask the moron the same question. Still, the coke-head wanted that Dunkachino and a glazed cruller like it was nobody’s business. Thankfully the manager ended up telling the guy to leave and not come back.

Speaking of local coffee establishments, can someone please tell me how the hell you get a medium dark with two sugars out of a clearly ordered (twice no less) large light with NO sugar? Can we get more than one person who speaks fluent English on per shift, pretty please? I am all for equal employment and whatever, but if you’re going to be in the service industry where there’s food involved, it’s probably a good idea to have more than a five word vocabulary.

What the hell is everyone’s hurry these days? No matter what line I have to wait in, I see people itching and scratching at themselves just dying to get to the next place they’ve gotta go—and sometimes they’re just plain old nasty about it too. I’ve seen middle aged women turn into R. Lee Ermey’s character in Full Metal Jacket and suddenly you’re Pvt. Pyle because God forbid you got 12 items and you have to write a check in the 10 items or less line at Shaws. Don’t give me that crap about working too hard, bills or family—that’s no excuse for bad manners. I work a minimum of 90 hours a week, have a wife, an ex-wife, two kids, three dogs, three cars, four jobs, half a mortgage payment that would choke most people and I STILL have a nice big smile for Ashley or any of the other nice Baristas at Starbucks down on Somerville Avenue when they greet me—no matter what time of day or how bad my day is going.

Just after 9/11, people were so much nicer to each other because our sugar coated world was shattered and a sense of humanity came over the general population. It’s two and a half years later and the nastiness is back. Maybe the rest of the world would look at us as a nation a little less aggressively if we treated each other with a little respect, have decent manners and try not to act so foolish. Hey, that’s just my opinion— take it or leave it.