"We have become a nation of self-important people."
Tucker Carlson, MSNBC
Tucker and I do not agree on much, particularly when it comes to politics, but I completely agreed with this statement when I heard it. Recently I was driving around a parking lot looking for a parking spot when I came upon a car blocking the flow of traffic. A woman I was acquainted with was putting her child in the car, her husband was driving. She then proceeded to talk with her husband, all the time holding up traffic. At first I was annoyed, the weather was lousy, I was in a bit of a hurry, but I took a deep breath and realized that another 30 seconds wouldn't kill me. But as I was waiting another car came up behind and was not nearly as patient and honked his horn. My acquaintance looked up at me and instantly thought I had honked. She was annoyed, but 1) I didn't do anything and 2) she was holding up the flow of traffic (and taking her time I might add). A minute later, her husband pulled out and the traffic flowed again. End of issue, right? The next day she approached me and asked "Did you know that was ME in the parking lot yesterday?" I explained that I knew it was her, but the car honking was not mine, but as I told her this I couldn't believe she was annoyed at me for her own rudeness! She was holding up traffic, I was sitting in my car waiting patiently. What difference did it make if it was her or someone she considered a nobody?
Are people with more social status allowed to inconvenience others? Sadly, I think the answer is "yes", as a society we allow some people to be rude and act self-absorbed. Look at celebrities. There are different rules for how they're treated and how the average Joe is treated at restaurants, stores, theaters, etc. Celebrities don't have to wait for tables. Us nobodies have to wait, sometimes even when we have a reservation.
The real question is, how do we stop this behavior? How do we get people to realize that their time is NOT more important than the person in front of them? We all have busy lives and we all deserve to be treated with respect, regardless of who we are.
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Sometimes I think it's the job of the "privileged" to recognize that others aren't as fortunate as them. It would be great if the rest of us "regular" folk would ban together to stop them, but there's still a part of society that looks up to and admire the audaciousness of some of these people.
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