Little Drummer Boy

Let the Marching Band Season Begin

I am not sure this is the right place to spew my complaint for today, I dedicated this page to my family and updates for my family and friends but I think this complaint should be shared:

I was in line at the shoe store yesterday, buy one get one half off, and I was listening to the lady at the register complain about the previous customer to the lady a head of me in line. Now the lady a head of me was irritated because she had to wait in line... Ladies, correct me if I'm wrong but shoe store+sale = LINES. Shame on her for not expecting to wait in line... this gets to the heart of my complaint but I will get there. Bare with me. So the sales lady was complaining that her previous customer comes in all the time and buys a million pairs of shoes (a large exaggeration I am sure) and then returns half of them, she has 500 hundred receipts and she asks the sales lady to check other stores for different sizes for the shoes she is returning. I listened to this exchange of complaints and I REALLY wanted to chime in and speak my mind but I would have ended up being the opinionated tattooed freak when they told the story to friends and family later... here is what I wanted to say:

To the lady who doesn't want to wait in line... SHOP ON LINE. I don't want to listen to your grunting and clear irritation for having to wait your turn. Have a little patience in life, see where that gets you. 

To the sales lady complaining about customers to other customers... Poor taste, I am curious what she had to say about me to the person behind me. It's a shame that you feel "put out" by doing the job the company has hired you to do. It's a shame that you had to spend 15 minutes waiting on a customer with needs/wants. More specifically wants/needs that you stated you already knew about so you should know what to expect. That's the easiest kind of customer if you ask me.  Where else do you have to be? Your shift ends when the store is closed. If you aren't waiting on her you are waiting on others, so god for bid you actually have to do the job you were hired to do. 

To both ladies... how do you know this lady with all the shoes isn't shopping for a charitable cause? How do you know she isn't shopping for an elderly friend or family that can't make it into the store? You stand there and judge, make assumptions as to why she does what she does every time she shops there. It never occurred to the sales lady to ask, "I see that you buy a lot of shoes and then return several at a time, is there something I could do to help make your shopping experience easier for you"? Instead of taking the time to act like a human being and talk to the person, you choose to complain about what a pain in the ass she is. 

Ryan and I talk a lot about the sense of entitlement we see in people in this area, not to mention across the country, and wonder how we got here. We see, everyday, small examples of this; people upset with having to wait in line, people who park their shopping carts and themselves in the middle of the isle, or never return them to the cart check in the parking lot,  people who drive with no realization that they have to share the road with others, people who don't say hi or smile back at you when you express a friendly gesture, people who expect something for nothing, people who feel it's OK to talk down to those that are just trying to do their job.  I could go on...

Now I know I am not a saint and I get impatient and become critical of other people. However, I have tried to live by a little motto "choose the right attitude". No one but me will be able to make my life what I want it to be. I can't sit and wait for someone to make changes for me or for my "luck" to change. I have choices to make everyday. I can choose to go to work or stay home, I can choose to speak up, I can choose to be quiet. I'm tired of being quiet. I am tired of trying to teach the kids that it's not all about what they want, what they want to do, or someone owes them something,  with no care or thought to any one else. All they see is their friends and ADULTS acting this way. 

My life is what I make it. I can choose to surround myself with positive influential people or I can get sucked into the disease that is NE Ohio. I am slowly feeling the power these negative Nancie's have on me. I can't ignore it any more, to me that makes me a contributor. I think I am going to start speaking up when I see these things occur. Hopefully I am not punched or assaulted in doing so. 

Do you think I could get a gig writing for the local paper... ????