Awful People

Do you ever have one of those days where most of the people you encounter are awful? Every now and again this happens to me and it drives my mind to a weird place. It makes me formulate my anit-society plan. I start thinking about moving to the middle of nowhere and becoming completely self sufficient. I start thinking like an elderly person, getting all nervous about the next generation. It freaks me out.

I realize that the Riverdale, Utah Super Walmart is not the best place to take stock of the human race, but I have encountered some trashy, rude folks there. It makes me wonder if anyone teaches their kids good old fashioned manners anymore? It doesn't take money or a masters degree to know how to be polite. I find that so many people these days are just flat out rude in their encounters with other humans. It takes so little effort to be pleasant and it can be contagious. Obviously negativity is highly contagious. In fact there seems to be a "Negativity Plague" in and around the Super Walmart.

If I'm standing in front of your face, it wouldn't be horrible to acknowledge me. If I say "Hi" would it be so hard to say it back? If you are blocking an entire aisle, could you scoot over if I politely say "excuse me"? Am I painting the picture clearly. People are just rude. I realize lots of people are miserable, but smiling really isn't all that hard and it makes a huge difference. Everyone looks better with a happy look on their face. I hate those days when everyone around you is a sour faced A-hole. Being happy is very much one of those "Fake it til you make it" situations.

On our last vacation, Dave and I drove into an unfamiliar city in search of a Wendy's (it's a long story......) and at last we found one. Dave got out of the car and ran inside while I circled the block with the car because there was no place to park. On my second loop, my husband emerged from the doors with the food and jumped in the car. He had a strange look on his face. We started driving again and I asked him what he was thinking. Without any hesitation he said this, "We can't ever move out of Utah. It's like we're to pure for the rest of the world because we are friendly. We're used to smiling and waving at people and just being NICE. I just don't think a lot of places are still like that. It's like everyone is getting so jaded or something. I want to raise our kids where people are nice." I don't know exactly what happened inside that fast food restaurant, but I totally understand that feeling he had. It's an awful thing to feel surrounded by a sea of negative, self-serving jerks. That is the exact sentiment that I felt today. It sucks that people are totally content just being ornery assholes day after day. I'm home a lot and most of the people that come over during the week are people that I really like being around. I live in a bubble I guess and I absolutely want to stay in it. Do you see what's happened here? Exposure to negative jerks, has made me feel very negative. It's a toxic feeling. I am going to try to avoid the general public tomorrow and let my good attitude return.

The only point of this rant is that parents need to teach their kids manners and wouldn't it be nice if one day everyone decided to live by the Golden Rule? Even just for a couple of days.