Better or worse?

I've always been bothered by people who think they're better than everyone else. Those people who walk around with their noses in the air, believing that it's everyone else's duty to cater to their each and every whim. They're too pretty, too rich, too sophisticated, or so they believe. All the "average" people are beneath them.

Whether you call them elitists, snobs, entitlement bitches, or whatever, anyone who walks around with a self-superior attitude tends to make me want to scream. But here's my problem. Does it make me an elitist if I think I'm better than elitists? I try to treat everyone equal and not disrespect anyone just because they're at a different place in their lives, or because they look a certain way. You never know what issues people have in their lives. But I have a hard time having any respect for people who treat everyone around them like dirt. You see it a lot when you work in retail. Customers will come in, demand that you drop everything and help them that very second. Doesn't matter if you are already helping someone else. They are who is important. At least in their own minds. And then there are those people who talk on their cell phones all during a transaction and can't even deign to acknowledge you as you ring through their purchases. Have a little respect and tell whoever you're talking to that you're checking out and you'll be right back, okay?

So does it make me a hypocrite that I tend to think of myself as "better" than elitists because I treat service people with respect?

Where has common courtesy gone?

I work in retail. It's not the worst job I've ever had (that would be junior high lunch lady), but it has its moments. A couple months ago we started having mystery shoppers come in, and one of the things they're supposed to check for is if all of the employees greet them. Which is fine and dandy. If people get friendly service, they're more likely to come back. Now, for someone who has struggled with shyness like I have, saying hello to a ton of strangers takes some getting used to. But I sucked it up and worked on it, because it's my job. Of course, if someone is looking the other way and yammering away on their cell phone, I might skip them, but that's beside the point.

Here's my beef with this. I can be as friendly as the day is long, and certain people still act like assholes. If I look at you, smile, and say hello, is it really so damn hard to say "Hi" back? Does it take up so much of your precious time? I realize you're shopping and don't want to be constantly hounded, but say hi and then move on. You don't even have to break your stride. It takes all of about half a second. "Hi." See, that wasn't hard.

It gets really irritating when I say hi to half a dozen people, and only one or two of them respond to me. The worst ones are the ones who I say hi to, they look up at me, and then they look away without responding. Jesus. It makes it really hard to keep doing what should be a really simple part of my job when things like that happen. Here's to hoping people learn a little common courtesy real quick.

In the News, Aug 20th

Corporal punishment seen rife in U.S. schools

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20080820/NEWS-USA-SCHOOLS-PUNISHMENT-DC/

So...wow. I had no idea that corporal punishment was so prevalent in schools. I'm sitting here hoping that Utah is not one of the 21 states that allow it.

I was spanked when I was a kid. It did not work for me. It didn't teach me not to do something. It just taught me to flinch when my mom got mad at me. Nearly twenty years down the road, I can laugh when I think about my mom chasing me around the house with a wooden spoon, intent on whacking me for whatever transgression I had committed.

But also now, with the benefit of time and distance I can look back on how being spanked made me feel and develop my own opinion on the practice. And without hesitation I can say that I'm against it. 100% against it. I'm not a parent myself, so I don't have a right to tell anyone how to parent their children, but whenever I see someone spanking their children, I cringe. Because I remember how it made me feel when I was a kid. Rather than teaching me correct behavior, it made me feel like a bad person, and I don't think that's a good thing to teach a child. It made me feel embarrassed and worthless.

I was never spanked in school, and I can't imagine how humiliating it would have been. To have dozens of peers witness something like that? No thank you. I can't think of a circumstance where I feel like spanking a child is okay, and most certainly not in a school.