WHAT HAPPENED TO CIVILITY?

What happened to common courtesy and civility? I recently heard about police being called to a supermarket because someone had "cut in line" in the U-Scan line and had caused a scuffle!

When I'm in stores, and not in a huury, I frequently offer to let people with a few items go ahead of me in line. Last week I offered to let a woman go ahead of me and she refused and acted offended. I said, in my best Vivien Leigh/Blanche DuBuois voice, "Well, I've always depended on the kindness of strangers." [WHY I thought she would know Vivien Leigh/Blanche DuBois/Tennessee Williams/"A Streetcar Named Desire"/Stanley Kowalski/Marlon Brando or any other aspect of culture is beyond my comprehension NOW!) She asked, "What the F--- does that mean?" I immediately clapped my hands over my ears and shrieked in mock-horror, "Does your mother know you talk that way?" She turned and stomped away to another line.

Awhile back, I was in line at Kroger and a man in front of me had his items on the belt in a very disorganized manner. I moved an item of his to allow me to start loading my items onto the belt as I like to have all my items on the line before the cashier starts. The man yelled, "I didn't tell you that you could touch my groceries!" At first I thought he was kidding, but I saw his face turning red. I said, "No, SIR, you DID NOT, but you OBVIOUSLY need training on HOW to load a belt to accommodate OTHER customers!" He left his position in line and came to my cart, stood there towering above me, and his face was beet red and the veins were bulging on his forehead and neck. He said, very menacingly, "Don't touch my f------ groceries!" I looked him straight in the eyes and said, "I grew up with seven brothers so your pathetic attempt to intimidate me doesn't work and you still NEED to learn HOW to put your groceries on the line." He didn't say anything else as the cashier told him his amount owed and he returned to pay for his groceries.

When I told my husband about the incident he said, "Maybe you should have just said you were sorry!"

He's always right.

Maybe I should dust off the old Dale Carnegie book. A little trivia: while watching "Boardwalk Empire" one of the characters pronounced "Carnegie" as "Carnagey"; while checking out the music on the internet I learned that "Carnagey" was the original spelling of Carnegie's name!

And they say television isn't educational!




Vivien Leigh in dramatic closing scene - "I've always depended on the kindness of strangers." Powerful dramatic scene as she is taken away to a mental institution. Marlon Brando, Karl Malden.