The Stupid, Ignorant and, Above All, Arrogant Things People Do When Out and About
Posted: Sunday, January 03, 2010
by Connor Davidson
It is pretty remarkable the things people are capable of doing without any consideration. The number of problems "it's not my problem" has caused is astronomical. Many people think that because they don't have to worry about it or they can live their life without concerning them self with it, whatever it is, now has no importance to them.
With this article I'm going to look at some good examples which anatomize disregard and take a moment to marvel at them.
When you go to a supermarket that does not make you put a coin in, you invariably see trolleys littering the car park. Once you've done your weekly shop you take your shopping to your car and all you want to do is go home. You're fed up. So why would you want to go all the way over to the trolley park - it is a long way- to neatly place it when someone else will come and pick it up? All you need to do is make sure it's out the way of your car so you can get out and you can let someone else pick it up for you.
I've got two real life examples of this happening. The first was the inspiration for this article. My Uncle was just about to reverse out and leave the supermarket when someone discarded their trolley right behind his car. The arrogance and disregard for others is mind blowing. In order for him to get out he had to make another person's problem his.
The other example came while I was in Australia. In the car park of WoolWorths (they are a supermarket chain in Australia that are not bust) a young boy - perhaps eight or nine- pushed the trolley up the kurb and dumped it there. That is bad but what is worse is: neither of his parents cared.
Collectively, we need to explain to people the difference between a car park and a trolley park. They clearly don't get it.
Drive Blockers
This is infuriating. Someone comes and parks opposite your driveway and you have to be very careful when getting out your own property. It's rude and ignorant.
It's also stupid because their increasing the risk of their car getting scratched. But protecting their car is not their problem - it's yours. When you are coming out of your own drive you have to be very careful not to hit their car.
So, if this keeps happening to you what can you do? Alas, not very much. I put up a sign saying: "Please, keep drive clear" but someone just - can you believe this? - went and stole it. The other thing I tried was asking people nicely to move their cars. There has been occasions where I've asked and people have apologized, moved and never done it again. However, these are few and far between. I asked one man with no aggression and with regard to politeness if he could move his car. He took quite a defensive stance and said: "Don't tell me where to park my car ! I'll park my car where ever I like". What do you do with these people? The sad reality is you can't do anything. If they won't move their car who will?
You can't so you must
Some people are of the opinion that if they are paying for something it is their right to make everyones life miserable - especially staff members. You've heard the phrase "their paid to do it". It is true but to a degree.
If you are paying for a service then it is your right to complain. But remember that you are complaining to real human beings.
Here is an example. While in an airport about to board a plane a woman decided to hold up the line and have a rant about nothing of any real significance to the staff. The problem was the staff members told her that she could not take a buggy into the cabin. She was not having it and argued back. The airport staff calmly explained that the airline's policy states that they have to be kept in with the luggage because there is not much space in economy class. They even said they would put the buggy in last so that when the plane landed at Dubai, (the stop over) someone would get her buggy out for her. Yet, she continued shouting at the staff who were trying to help her as if they had snapped the buggy in half, threw it at her, ripped up her tickets and pulled a fish out of a drawer to slap her with. After a few minutes I began to wish they would. Eventually, security asked her to step aside and let other people board the plane.
There was no need for her manner. The staff at the desk could not do anything - they were doing their job to company regulations. The staff were not doing anything wrong. The woman was just a snob.
I have huge admiration for the people who handled this case. I couldn't do it. They were able to keep calm and be polite to someone who was clearly being unreasonable. If I were working there I'd be tempted to point out that her son can walk 100 yards and use the rude rhetoric: do you know that there are seats on the plane?
Driving Excessively Slow
Everyone knows speeding is dangerous. If the limit is seventy then don't go over it. But because driving fast is dangerous that does not making driving slow safe.
In the event of bad weather slow down - if it's not safe to drive at the limit then go slower - and no sane person will complain. However, in perfect weather conditions going forty miles per hour on a sixty mile an hour zone is dangerous. If you are going too slow then people will overtake you and overtaking is not a safe maneuver.
Furthermore, you are holding a lot of people up. The majority of people want to drive at the speed limit so will naturally get annoyed at you. I've seen five or six cars behind one person driving ridiculously slow on a windy stretch of road. The least he could do was pull over but he continued on until straight stretch of road when everyone overtook him. It was clearly inconsiderate holding everyone up like that.
-------
I could probably go on but you get the point. If it's dumping trolleys or blocking people's drive, driving stupendously slow or shouting at staff members who are trying to help you, your being ignorant, inconsiderate and arrogant.
The main reason that society functions from a sociological perspective is that people give a damn about others. Could you imagine a world where everyone concerned them self totally with them self? It would be perfectly miserable.
The best thing we can do is give the people who are ignorant of others strange looks. The woman at the airport got quite a few from quite a lot of people - myself included. Also, we need to make it obvious that these people are in the wrong. Let's face it: they either don't get it or get it and don't care.
Connor Davidson is a UK based writer. He writes on wide variety of topics with his main interest being science, maths and engineering.
Feel free to reprint these articles on your website by using the reprint button. If you have any questions or comments please post them below - I read all comments.
You can keep up to date with his writings by following him on twitter or Google+
Feel free to reprint these articles on your website by using the reprint button. If you have any questions or comments please post them below - I read all comments.
You can keep up to date with his writings by following him on twitter or Google+
This Article has been viewed 1,892 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)And it seems to be getting worse, doesn't it? Why do you suppose? Thanks for writing this thought provoking piece, Connor. MarijoThanks for the comment.
Well done. The list could go on and on and on, of course. Ignorance from self-absorbtion has plauged society since the beginning, yet these days it seems to be getting worse. Perhaps because collectively we don't have a common goal? Perhaps.Thanks for the comment.
I agree with Paul that there are worse abuses in society than mere inconsideration. However, I do feel that's where many of the worse abuses originate. Common courtesy is sadly not very common anymore. I'm not sure there is much we can do to wake up those who are inconsiderate. As you said, they either don't get it or don't care.Thanks for the comment.
There is something about "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" that many folks today just 'don't get it'.Thanks for the comment.
Those are all very annoying! Another thing that annoys me is when people decide to stop and have a conversation with someone they've bumped into when between them they are completely blocking the supermarket aisle or shop door.If you want to stop and chat, move to the side where you're not blocking everyone's way!Yes, that's the idea.Thanks for the comment.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.