I think I need to go back and start over. Because, somehow or other I've wound up in a world that I simply don't fit into.
Anyone who's read the last few days of my blogs has seen several postings about things that just seem out of kilter to me. Stuff goes on now that either I thought was done differently years ago, or perhaps I've simply reached an age where memory isn't serving me properly anymore. Without repeating specifics about what I've been writing about lately, my basic issue has been that almost no matter what anyone is trying to buy, sell, accomplish or enjoy today, nobody wants to let them. Even when people are readily paying for whatever it is that's wanted or needed.
Need knowledgeable help in a department store? Forget it. Want somebody to pump your gas? Maybe yes, maybe no -depends on where you are. If you don't exactly know the fast food you want and the short-hand lingo to order it, you not only might starve to death before they get your order straight, but the folks in line behind you might kill you for holding them up.
Now, the things I listed above are just little examples of what's really a change in the attitude toward shoppers and customer service (Boy..there's an oxymoron). From supermarkets to dry cleaners, nothing is easy to get done any more. But now I've got another thing to add to the list of attitudes that have gone south and changes of general opinion.
I was in a watering hole early last evening, one where I stop often enough to know many of the people. There weren't many others there at that particular time, maybe five or six, and I was sitting at the bar with my wife. There were several vacant stools on my left...and then a group of three other customers. Two women, one man. Soon, one of the women began to sing, rather loudly. I asked politely, but somewhat loud myself, to be heard over her screeches, if she could tone it down. My wife and I, I said, couldn't hear our own conversation. She didn't comply. So, I asked again, somewhat louder, perhaps a tad forceful. She stopped singing, but complained to her bar mates about me in tones louder than she'd been singing. At that point others, including a bartender stared at me as if I'd committed some kind of terrible sin. I was asked if I was aware that I might have upset the singer. In effect, I was really quite the bad guy. And, that's when I realized that I just don't understand it any more.
Surely, I've heard of political correctness, and before that, was even brought up to have good manners. But where has the line been drawn now? How far can people go? If it's wrong to complain about someone else's boorish behavior, because you might hurt their feelings, what else can't I do? Should we (my wife and I) have gone out to our car to have an audible conversation? Or perhaps, we just should have stayed home. Because, heaven forbid, nobody should dare to request quiet from a half-tanked singer.
As for right now, I'm not quite ready to become some kind of hermit. So I'm going to practice being nice and behaving politely and then I'm going to try going out again. And if someone sings out loud or dances on the bar, I'm going to smile and ignore it. I guess the time has come to accept what's come to pass. Nonetheless, if someone tries to stick me with a cover charge because there was entertainment, I'm really going to be upset.
That's it for today folks.
Adios
No comments:
Post a Comment