Blog: Are We Overcommitted and Losing Our Cool?
August 31, 2012 
5 Comments
Standing in line at the grocery, I hear the woman behind me grumble about there not being enough registers open. I look around and see that there are plenty open and not one of them has more than two people in line. She pushes her items so close to mine on the conveyor belt that they tip over onto my groceries when the belt moves forward. She grabs at them abruptly, knocks over two of my items and never even says, “Excuse me.”
My daughters are standing wide-eyed beside me. I tell them to look away and that we’ll talk about it in the car. As we receive our receipt from the cashier the woman says, “Well, it’s about time. Some of us have places to go.” My daughters ask why the lady was so rude to us and the cashier. I tell them she must not have planned her time well, was running late and taking it out on everyone else. I remind them that it is never okay to be rude to people because you are in a rush.
Waiting for the traffic light to turn green, my daughters and I sing along to the stereo. As the light turns, the first car in line doesn’t immediately move forward. The car behind it holds down the horn. It isn’t one of those short friendly honks of reminder. This is a blaring, hold down it down, completely obnoxious horn. The driver continues to blow the horn and ride the person’s bumper until we reach the speed limit. My daughters ask me why the driver won’t stop holding down their horn and why they are driving so close to the car in front of it. I can see the worry on their faces. They know that driving like this can cause a serious accident.
I remind them that no matter how big of a hurry you are in that it is never polite or safe to do what that driver just did.
Sitting at a table close to the hostess stand at one of our favorite restaurants, my family and I can’t help but overhear a very large, loud man complaining to the hostess. He is upset that he and his family have been waiting for over 20 minutes for a table. The hostess is politely reminding him that it’s a Friday night and he was told the wait would be close to 40 minutes.
The gentleman starts to raise his voice saying if the service was better the wait wouldn’t be so long. He points his finger at the hostess and says that she and the staff should be working on getting their table ready because they have plans after dinner and are now going to be late. The manager steps in and tells the man he can either wait quietly or can leave. He decides to leave but not without making a lot of loud complaints first.
My husband and I talk to our girls and remind them that it is no one’s fault but their own if they don’t time things properly and that they should never behave like that man.
These are just three instances that stand out to me; but lately, I feel that every time I am out I am witnessing people rushing from here to there and leaving a path of destruction behind them. In order to squeeze everything into our days we blaze through the day and forget our manners and more importantly…our safety and the safety of others.
Are we a society that says, “Yes” to too many things? Are we a society that can’t slow down and take our time? Are we a society that feels that what we have planned or have going on is more important than what everyone else does?
I was almost hit by someone the other day who ran a stop sign. When I honked at them to wake them up- they ignored me. It was scary. I am moving to a small village in the Netherlands in October- from what I know of my visit there- they do not carry ‘to go’ coffee cups when you order coffee. Because people like to take their time and enjoy it. They don’t rush. They don’t hurry. They know that life is a big rush if you let it be one- and they try to relish the small moments. I am hoping that this is true- as I need to get away from people like this. I am sorry you had such a crummy day. People DO need to slow down.
It is all so scary, right? I’m thinking that my family and I need to come visit you all when you are over there. Sounds like my kind of living!
I want to admit that I am sometimes this rushed, harried person. I am late for everything. I try to not take it out on those around me, be mindful that it’s not their fault. However, I do become irked when I’ve scheduled myself appropriately but am waylaid by someone else’s inconsideration (30 items in a 15 or fewer line; someone who can’t operate the self checkout register. Funny that both examples are grocery related Huh).
I do sometimes get exasperated and mumble something to myself but typically I know I have no one to blame but myself when I’m rushed. If other people would realize this more, I think the instances of impatience would lessen.
What is grocery shopping do to all of us? Maybe we need to get one of those delivery services and shop online?! That way we don’t have to go out on the roads, search the store and wait in lines.