Pipestone Flyer
By Lanny Fleming
Vol 14, Issue 50, December 16, 2010 (Leduc-Wetaskiwin Pipestone Flyer)
I hate to even admit this but when did we become a society of rude people. When did it become socially acceptable to let rudeness creep into main stream society.
This thought came to me the other day when I was sitting listening the guest speakers at the Leduc Chamber of Commerce/EDA Christmas luncheon. A lot of the speakers talked about embracing the spirit of the season and not reacting to things that normally we might.
It seems we embrace the spirit of the season. get more stressed out in the process and freak out at the drop of a hat. Like the lady who freaked out standing in line at the sandwich place. First off the 12 year-old behind the counter was doing the best job he could. She got freaked out because he called her Ma'am. I think the 12 year-old got off lucky, I would have said sir. I mean it was hard to tell what gender this person was. There was a time way back when, if a person walked into a store and you knew if they were a man or woman. In today's modern world of men with long hair, carrying purses and wearing eye shadow, it is tough to tell. Now I believe that if men or women want to adopt things that have been traditionally taboo, go for it. The next time you see a man wearing high heels or a woman with a mustache given them a thumbs up.
So this woman starts going off on the poor kid about how she has fought for her rights and does not want to hear his “pontification of antiquated expressions from a post modern time.” By the deer in the headlights look on the kids face he had no clue why he was getting yelled at. He kept saying, “Ma'am how can I help you?” If you are going to yell at someone, first make sure they understand what you are saying.
Christmas, I swear, like travelling makes people stupid. I still have nightmares about the days of driving bus at the airport. I worked the night shift and if you stood outside the bus you could hear the stupidity coming down the highway like a freight train. If the flight was at seven you would have the people who showed early then the morons who showed up at the last minute demanding special treatment because they could not get out of bed on time.
I still remember the time I picked up a customer from the airport who was, as my father would say, madder than a wet hen. He threw his suitcases at me through the door and demanded to be taken right away back to the lot. The bus was full so I had to finish loading first. By the time I got back to the lot and found his car, which took some time because he described it as “the most expensive car on the lot.” For the record a 92’ Honda does not qualify. So after stopping at his car he proceeded to throw suitcases as hard as he could out the door, screaming our shuttle service was run by a bunch of stupid people. There was this senior citizen sitting right by the door, just a small frail woman, who quietly told the gentleman he just chucked out her luggage. He ran out the door of the bus screaming ‘why me’, put the suitcase back on the bus and jumped out of the bus. As I drove away I caught the image of the man waving his arms over his head, screaming while kicking the side of his car. At least I hoped it was, I was going back to find out.