Since I've Started Down This Path

On Saturday afternoon, I went to the local big box hardware store to buy some chain.  I needed four 12-foot lengths of chain to complete the hanging of the porch swing (some may remember that the attempt to put that swing up last summer ended rather badly).  The place was wildly busy with people all over the place.  I waited for probably 15 minutes or so for the beleaguered employee working the area to finish helping a couple of other customers who were there ahead of me.  He apologized all over the place when he got to me, and went right to work dealing with a tangled up mess of metal links that was, predictably, the sort of chain that I needed for my project.  We chatted pleasantly about his plans to get away for the day on Sunday, and things were proceeding just fine.  Then, from the other end of the aisle, a woman approached; stuck herself in front of my nice chain guy; and demanded to know where she could find some sort of rubber end caps that could be put over the ends of screws.  Not an "excuse me," or even a polite nod to the fact that I was standing there, and no acknowledgment of the fact that the employee was busy -- just her self-absorbed requirement that her needs be met NOW.  I glared, but said nothing, and my guy (good retail service employee that he was), patiently pointed her back down the aisle and explained that she would find what she was looking for in the fourth drawer from the bottom.  Off she went, and we went back to our business.  Pretty quickly though, she was back having found a small plastic envelope of small black rubber washer-like rings.

"Will these keep my shutter screws from rusting?" she asked, thrusting her find into his face.

He once again, apologized to me, and then tried to explain to her that these would not prevent rust as the water could still get to the screw.  He told her of some other product that would work better for what she needed, and told her on which store aisle she would find what she needed.  Unbelievably, she put her hands on her hips, stuck out her chin, and said, "I can't figure that out.  You need to come show me."

At that point I'd had enough.  My drop dead glare was obviously not making the point, and so I asked her, "Lady, did you ever finish kindergarten?"  Well that caused her to wheel around and snarl -- "What?!?!"  And so I patiently explained to her that I knew that it would be kindergarten where she might have learned to wait in line and take her turn.  Predictably, she got furious; threw her baggie of black rubber thingys at my feet, turned on her heel and stomped off the way she'd come. 

I got my chains, thanked my nice young helper, and headed for the checkout.

Whatever you think about that story, here's my point:  That woman assumed that everyone owed her a level of respect and courtesy -- but felt no compunction about trampling everyone else in that regard.  Her face to face behavior is illustrative of the mindset that powers the commonplace response that I get whenever I confront bad behavior on the part of anonymous commenters.  They will, when called for their behavior always come back exactly as our most recent specimen did on that last post:

you snipe and whine and were rather ugly

Amazing.  Someone who spends good chunks of their time wandering around the blogosphere leaving nastiness in their wake, feels entitled to "nice" treatment from those they would victimize.  That would be funny if it were not so pathetic.  What it does do is identify that the anonymous types know what polite behavior entails.  Clearly, then, the move to be uncivilized is the result of a deliberate choice and not an error born of ignorance.

swan