People

Monday, September 24, 2007

Let me start off by saying that I am TIRED…I got NO sleep last night! So I'm going to try my best not to rant…too much.

One of the things that I was taught in elementary school that has stuck in my mind now for 20+ years is The Golden Rule…"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." I remember in 2nd or 3rd grade our teacher made a huge deal about The Golden Rule. I mean, we spent like a whole week on it (or maybe it was just an hour or two, but that shit seemed like forever.) My school was huge on teaching us how to be good citizens. We even had "Citizen of the Week" in our class, assigned to 1 boy and 1 girl who were the best little helpers or whatever for the week. It was never clear what the criteria was for selecting "Citizen of the Week", and it always seemed that the same kids were picked week after week. So, the rest of us pretty much felt like we were shitty citizens when we weren't picked…but that's a different story. Anyway, our teacher gave us examples of how to apply The Golden Rule, and we in turn regurgitated this information and it in turn drove our parents ape shit. But the lesson was an important one nonetheless – always treat others the way you'd want them to treat you. Any way you slice it, that's not such a bad thing to teach little impressionable kiddies. I must say though…I'm pretty convinced that this rule wasn't taught to everyone outside of Irvine Unified School District. People are so inconsiderate that it's comical at times.

Example, I was at Target yesterday. It was Sunday; the new mailer just came out…I guess I had a death wish. But I had to grab some essentials so I had no choice but to brave the crowds. I pulled into the parking lot and it was PACKED. Kids are darting in and out between cars, big vans are taking up two spots & everyone and their abuelita was there. The parking gods were with me though because there was a spot right up front! As I pull into it, I notice that there's a shopping cart in the spot. I shit you not, 2 spaces to my left was the little shopping cart corral. Some lazy bastard just left the cart there in the ONLY open space within 100 feet of the door instead of walking 15 feet to park the damn thing with all of the other carts. And I look up to see a woman across the parking lot taking her ONE BAG out of her cart and parking the cart BEHIND the car parked next to her, before getting into her car and driving off. So, when this other person comes out of the store he won't be able to back his car out of his spot without first finding a place for the cart that old lazy ass left for him to move. I'm watching this lady carefully park the cart behind someone else's car, parallel to their bumper. I mean, she was careful…making sure it didn't roll out into traffic. What's the difference in that and just saying eff it and shoving the fuckin cart out into the middle of the road?! (That would have been very entertaining to watch!) So, when this guy comes out of the store he is now faced with having to return his cart as well as the cart of this lazy heffa?! Amazing…

People are assholes. I mean, not every single person in this world…but on a grand scale…as a whole…people are assholes. I'd say maybe 50% of people in the world are assholes. Walk through your office & count the assholes and tell me I'm wrong. Go…right now. I'll wait...

What'd you get? 50%? Maybe 60%? See, told you!!!

People are selfish, rude and inconsiderate. They let elevators close in your face, talk on cell phones in the movie theater, put calls on speaker when they could just as easily pick up the receiver and spare us the noise, and they don't wipe their sweat off of gym equipment. They sneeze/cough without covering their mouths, they don't hold doors open when they see that your hands are full, they take the tops off of muffins and leave the bottom part for someone else, they cut you off on the road and then give YOU the finger, steal parking spots you've been waiting on for 10 minutes, and don't call you back when they say they will. Oh, and my new favorite…they stand you up for dates (LOVE that!!!) And these same people piss and moan when bad shit happens to them (and they can't seem to figure out why!) I'm ranting, but there is a point to it. If you don't already do this, please try. Try to put yourself in the shoes of other people. The world would be such a better place if everyone did. I mean, seriously. If you see someone drop their papers and shit is flying all over the parking lot, stop to help them. It's what…30 seconds out of your life? If that 30 seconds is going to make you late to wherever you're headed, your ass was going to be late any damn way. If you flake on someone, apologize for it the next time you talk to them. A sincere apology…not some old bullshit. You'd want them to do the same for you, wouldn't you? If you just answered no, you're one of the 50%-60% I was just referring to and I encourage you to never procreate. You never know though…you might need that person for something one day and they'll be less inclined to lend you a hand. Everything you put out into the universe both good and bad comes back to you. If you're a considerate person, that will come back to you. If you're inconsiderate and disregard others, that will come back to you as well…asshole.