A little Offutt-style Doom & Gloom post! Here are a couple of local recent examples of pure, idiotic selfishness.
In my department there are only 3 of us because we've been horribly understaffed since the pandemic. For a while it was just my nominal boss and me and then not quite a year ago they hired someone else. A few months ago, I'm not sure why, but she suddenly got it into her head that whenever our nominal boss left the room, she could basically do whatever she wants. She started turning up some crap on her phone and having loud personal conversations on the phone and cackling loudly and burping and chomping gum and so on.
One day I decided to try to teach her a lesson so while she was at lunch and the nominal boss was gone, I got out my MP3 player and put it on fairly loud. Now, does it occur to her that someone sitting 5 feet away making noise is annoying and obnoxious and have a moment of self-awareness? No, she just turns her shit up louder.
Another day I got so tired of it I finally just shouted (pretty much unconsciously) "WOULD YOU TURN THAT DOWN?!" And so maybe she'd realize this behavior is annoying and stop, right? No, she just turn it down a couple of notches. Because it's so important to get what she wants, which is listening to whatever crap on her phone and so forth. It doesn't matter that it's bothering someone else; all that matters is getting what she wants.
Now, the other example is my neighbor across the hall. When whatever woman he was living with moved out, all the sudden he decides that he doesn't need to put his dog on a leash anymore. How one thing leads to another, I don't really know. And he's been doing this for months. I think you can guess what's going to happen with that: inevitably the dog jumps on a person or another dog. What this fool doesn't seem to realize is just because you don't see anyone right that moment when you open the door of the building or your truck doesn't mean no one will ever come along.
One Saturday I had the window open and I hear all this barking and shouting. Guess who was involved? This guy's dog. I don't think it was a big scuffle, but still it's not something that should happen. And guess what? The very next day he's letting the dog run wild again.
Finally I emailed the landlord and a couple days later she sends out a text to everyone reminding them that their lease says dogs are supposed to be on leashes. But I'm not sure that's really effective because who even knows how many people get the texts? Anyway, you think this guy now is going to leash his dog? Hell no.
Because again it's more important that he gets what he wants than being considerate of other people. And really not to single him out, other people have done this too. A couple weeks ago I saw two bulldogs racing past my window sans leashes. And in the past other people have done this. I don't know why; I've never lived anywhere else where people thought they could just let dogs run wild, despite how obvious it is that many other people are living there and it's very clearly NOT a dog park.
It is just pure selfishness. People don't wanna put a leash on the dog and walk it, so they don't. It seems inevitable that a dog is going to actually hurt another dog or bite a person, though I'm not sure that's happened yet.
So from there I go thinking that really this seems to be the problem with so many things. Like all the terrible driving these days. Selfish people want to get wherever and so they'll drive too fast, tailgate, pass in turn lanes/shoulders, or do all sorts of other idiotic things to get what they want--even though usually what they actually get is to stop at a light a little longer.
And just think of all the other instances of people being assholes in stores and restaurants and so forth. This selfish need to get what we want eclipses basic decency and empathy and all that. It makes us act like total assholes with no regard for anyone else. All that matters is me, me, ME getting what I want.
It just seems like so many people are like Veruca Salt in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Maybe they don't actively go around shouting, "Daddy, I want a squirrel/goose!" but it's basically what they're thinking. I want this, so screw whoever gets in my way! And if you complain about their selfishness, you're the jerk and they'll just try to hide their selfish behavior a little better.
I don't know when this started happening, though obviously it's been happening for a long time. It just seems a lot worse now. Maybe we really are so much more spoiled and selfish than previous generations. I don't know. I'm just asking the questions!
Anyway, that's my doom and gloom post. You're welcome.
2 comments:
People are so self-absorbed. It's all about them. They've replaced God with themselves and no one else matters. I think I see it while driving more than anywhere else. Very sad. Life is difficult enough. A little awareness and consideration can go a long way and make the ride just a bit more pleasant for everyone.
And yes, in our neighborhood, there are the decent people who walk their dogs on leashes and the idiots who just let their dogs run wild. Guess they don't care about their dogs either as there's a good chance the dog will get hit.
Your neighbor sounds (not only selfish) but too lazy to do the right thing. Anything could happen to the dog. If it bites someone, he could get sued. I tend to have the opposite problem with myself. Sometimes I have to draw the line of how much I will do or give to the people in my life. This includes both work and family. For my own sanity...lol.
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