Are They Stupid, or Do They Just Not Care?
Published by Toni June 1st, 2005 in Uncategorized.Yesterday my bf and I went to Target to pick up more things for our new place.
As we pulled into the covered parking lot, we saw a motorcycle cop giving a man a ticket. The reason for the ticket? He parked his car near a handicapped parking space. More specifically, he parked in the spot marked by a series of blue stripes, indicating that people shouldn’t park there.
Now, he should have known that he couldn’t park there, yet he did. Why? There was plenty of parking available. My bf and I had no trouble at all finding a space. So what compelled this genius to park in a no-parking section?
Most likely because it was close to the entrance.
Perhaps he thought to himself, “Well, I’ll only be a minute,” or maybe he thought, “Eh, no one ever parks in the handicapped section anyways. I won’t be in anyone’s way.” Whatever his reason, he will now pay the price for his gamble.
After my bf and I picked out what we needed, we headed for the check out lanes. Since we didn’t have many items with us, we decided to go to the Express Lane. In this case, those who are supposed to use the Express Lane should only have 8 items or less.
There were only two women in line (and they seemed to know each other), so we thought that we would be able to finish quickly. Much to our surprise, however, we saw that this woman had a shopping cart with a whole lot more than 8 items! In fact, I think that she had TWO shopping carts!!!
We were aghast. Didn’t they see that the sign said, “Express Lane- 8 Items Only”? Did they just not give a damn? And what of the cashier? Why didn’t she say anything to these idiotic women? Did she just not care either? Or was she merely working robotically, not realizing that these women had maybe about 40 things in their shopping carts?
I fail to understand why some people have trouble following small, simple rules. Would it really have killed that man in the parking lot to park a little further from the entrance? Would it have really bothered him to spend an extra minute walking? And what of the women? Granted, they had some children with them and children can be a distraction, but surely they saw the sign that told them they shouldn’t have gone to that particular check out line. As for the cashier herself, couldn’t she have taken one look at the cart and referred them to a different lane? Granted, perhaps she wasn’t serving anyone at the time, but shouldn’t she have known that at any minute a customer with only 8 items or less would appear? Wasn’t the cashier aware that it would be unfair for that customer to wait for someone who didn’t follow the rules to finish up?
I have to admit- I’m a stickler for rules. I always worry that I’ll get in trouble or inconvience someone else so I follow them as best as possible. Of course, I know that there are some silly rules that don’t seem to make sense, but at the same time a lot of these small, insignificant rules are created for a purpose; namely, for the convience of people and to facilitate certain actions. When people break these rules, it’s unfair to those who follow them. What makes them so special that they don’t have to follow those rules? Why is their life more important than others?
When my bf and I visited Rome a few years ago, we encountered a few rule breakers. We were in line for the Sistine Chapel, and as you can imagine, the line was extremely long, not to mention that it was raining. Out of the blue, a large group of people -about 10- cut in line. Oh sure, they tried to do it as discreetly as possible, but we were all incensed. Some of us American tourists made loud, snide comments about them, but they simply ignored us, pretending not to understand English.
During the same Italy trip, my bf and I were in Venice. We were first in line for a water taxi, when all of a sudden an old man appeared and stood in front of us. Yes, he’s old but it’s not like my bf and I were sitting in comfy chairs reserved for the elderly. And it’s not like him being behind us would delay him in entering the water taxi. No, he just felt that since he was old, he had “special priviledges” and cut in front of us. It pissed us off, but we let it go.
What do you all think? Do you think that people are often unaware of these small rules? Do you think they just don’t care? Do you think it happens often? Share your thoughts.
6 Responses to “Are They Stupid, or Do They Just Not Care?”
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That is one of my biggest pet peeves! I am all for rules - so it really gets under my skin when people break them…especially when the rules are clearly posted! I think that people do see the signs - but they just don’t care, or they belive that the rules don’t apply to them for whatever reason. It just makes me crazy!
Interesting post.
I think we follow the rules the VAST majority of the time. Consider how many times you’ve driven your car without colliding with on-coming traffic! We’re a society of rules and sheep. And that’s good.
Every once in a while, one of us gets the bright idea of bending a silly, little rule because we think no harm will come of it. After all, we’ve been so good, so often. Who will notice?
But, somebody does notice. Oops! Better pay the ticket and follow the rules from now on!
i try not to be against the rules all the time too. rules ain’t made to make the rule book thicker, they’re designed to be FOLLOWED so the city would be in order!!
i hate those who dun give a ratass about anyone but themselves. one time when i got on a packed bus, i saw a perfectly healthy girl sitting at the “reserved for disabled” seat while a very old granny (who was not able to stand still and was using a cane) standing unsteadily right next to the girl. blame me for not understanding the “dutch” culture, i asked the gal to give her seat to that granny anyway. maybe the gal didn’t understand english or whatsoever, she shot a glance at me and the granny then she looked out of the window when her ass was still stuck in the seat!!
speaking of public transportation, dutch people don’t seem to give a damn about ORDER here either. there is always no line at the bus stop and people don’t seem to care who has arrived first. in canada, we all let people who have arrived before us to get on the bus first. is that too much to ask for?? and hey, when you get on a busy train where some passengers are standing, you could see that many people still have their bag (which for your information is not too big to be put on your lap) on an empty seat. apparently we, passengers who pay, has to give up our seat for a bag which doesn’t have a ticket!!
i recently encountered the same situation at target - express lane being used by a woman who clearly had more than 8 items. given that i was in a hurry, i was really peeved. harley and i made a point of saying something about it (loudly) amongst ourselves, hoping that either the cashier would say something or that the woman would realize. but no, there was no reaction. when the customer fails to realize their mistake, i do think the cashier has a responsibility to say something. while it may be a bit harsh to move the customer to another line, the cashier should at least remind the customer that this is the express lane and to remember that next time they’re in the store.
But, haven’t you ever been standing in a really long line with more than 8 (or 10 or 12 or whatever) while the express cashier has nothing to do? I’ve been called over by the express cashier before, even when I had more than the maximum. What should a person do in that situation–refuse to check out on the chance that someone, somewhere is about to reach the front of the store? I think the cashier can tell people to come in line, though I would never go anywhere near the express line if I had more than the number in my basket.
i don’t particularly understand why the parking guy did that but i do know people who avoid buying parking passes to a school lot and get away parking for 30 school days before getting a ticket and compared to feeding a meter for 30 days, it was worth it for them.
i think people break the rules because they see most people follow them and just ONE (or so they’d like to think) will not rock the boat and cause anarchy.
good for you for being a conscientious citizen. good thing there aren’t so many rule-breakers around and that we do feel something when we see them.
if i was the cashier, i might have been helpless to do much if the woman already unloaded all 40 items on my counter. i would say something cutting to her and i wouldn’t say it sweetly but rather bitchily. it doesn’t matter to me because however bitch i come across, it’s okay because they are breaking a clearly set out rule. had i been someone in line and saw others who would have to wait (including myself), i would have said something to them… i wouldn’t know what to do, however, if they refused to budge!