Worse than Rude

I should not be surprised. It is just a reminder of why I hate going out in public to do anything. Shopping is the worst of the anythings that I hate to do.

With all the hype they have over special sales, it is no wonder people are knocking each other over to get the 'last one' of something. Some guy, with a pocket full of money, probably stays home just to keep from getting hurt. Not me. I just stay home to avoid pushy people. No pocket full of money here. I think they would make more sells if they would just have a pleasant atmosphere to shop in.

BUT the grocery store should be a slow methodical place to shop. You know. Look at the labels. Shop for specials. Turn the meat over and over to see if it has been sprayed with food color. It is not so anymore. People go through the grocery store like it was the last crop that was going to be harvested. You can forget that part about people pulling together if we have a national disaster of some sort. If peoples attitude (some people) is an indication of how they would act in a disaster, it would be the SUV syndrome: "I'm the biggest thing on the road and if any one dies, it won't be me." That attitude spills over into other areas.

My little story. I was at the ham cooler in the grocery store. Clearly there first and trying to take as little space as possible. THIS LADY came over with the meat manager and apparently thought she needed the whole side of the cooler (20 feet long or so). Of course, she had the authority. She had the meat manager with her. I thought I'd look anyway then her husband and three kids spread out along the side where I was. I couldn't even get my buggy past them and had to back out and around. The part that really gripped me was that they did not even know I was there. It was like they were pushing the bushes back while on a hike through the woods. They were dressed nicer than me. I didn't know they were having a special event. While she has the meat man to read the labels and move the hams around for her. Her husband stands close and surveys the crowd to make sure she has her space.

Thirty minutes later while we checked out without a ham, she was still back there having the meat man pick up the hams and then another and another, with her brood around her. Her husband ready with the cell phone in case someone else wanted to buy something. I was looking to buy several hams for gifts.

I saw them as I pulled out of the parking lot. They were rushing out in an SUV ignoring stop signs and turn signals going to their fancy subdivision probably to complain about the ham the meat man pushed off on them.

Being taken as just another obstacle and ignored as a human being is the worst of insults. It is worse than rude.

I visualize people like that being on the school board and raising the mileage rate so our tax bill will be higher. That's a little trick they use. One politician tells us the taxes will not go up, then the school board raises the mileage rate to balance their budget. It is like going in the back door at the bank to rob it.

There. I feel better.

Mall Visit

Like the annual physical, my annual visit to the local mall came due last week. Upon leaving the parking lot, I genuinely felt like I had been in another state if not a foreign country. It had nothing to do with nationalities. You see, we are country around here. Some people try to be something else but when it comes down to it, they're country. But you go into the mall and it is like dress up day and 'fool your friends' day.

For one thing, people are territorial. They have their direction and destination and you better not be in their path. For another, there are those who never buy anything, they just walk around, the guys looking tough and the women putting themselves on display like an advertisement or something. Their faces are frozen their manner is stiff and it looks like the night of the living dead. Spooky.

Then you go into a store, where do they get those styles? Do people really wear them anyplace besides the mall. And the sizes, it is like shopping in the land of the giants. "We have one pair in that style and we lost the sole off one shoe." "Those are seasonal, come back in the fall." Don't people wear work boots in the summer?

I once walked through Harlem, (got lost on the subway), it was okay. Back then I didn't know we all hated each other. I just thought people were people. But I admit, I felt a little out of place being one of only two white people there. We didn't get mugged or robbed and people smiled at us. Anyway, there is no comparison to the alienation I felt in the mall. One oasis of reality came when we stopped at the Chic-fa-la (if I even got close to spelling it right). The people were down home and went out of their way to be nice to us. Food was good too. We had the salad with chicken tenders. Um.

Finally let me say, if the people went to as much effort to please the customers as they do in rubbernecking to see if you stole something, it would be a much more profitable place. Some local people for marketing ideas might help too. I fully expected a squad of uniforms to jump out of every hiding place. I felt like confessing to something but we paid for everything we got, probably even the bags although it was not on the receipt. For all those watching eyes who think every country boy or girl in denim are thieves, I would like to say 'I am not a thief.' I got money. As Jeff Foxworthy said, (I paraphrase because no one can do it like Jeff) 'I got checks so I can't be out of money.'

I said y'all, yep, howdy and I reckon, to myself all the way home just to get back at myself.

Previous Post