Why (some) People Suck

(This post is fueled by the robbery of some pretty cool, hard-working people in a land far, far away. If you feel the urge to do a good deed today, go here: http://themenzingers.tumblr.com/)

The overall obliviousness of people really honks me off. From the person who parks their shopping cart diagonally across one aisle while shopping in another, to the person who walks up to the bar and spits out an order even though there are ten other people waiting, they all suck (as a bartender, there is no worse customer than one who thinks he/she is the only person in the room). So, is it a genuine unawareness of the people around you? Do you literally think you're the only person in the room? Or is it a sense of self-importance? I have to wonder what, in a person's psyche, determines how important they think they are. I'm not talking about external forces like fame and money here. There are rich folks who are humble, and broke-ass fools who have egos the size of entire planets. What is it that makes someone butt people in line, cut people off in traffic, take things that aren't theirs, and harm other people for personal gain? It seems to be not only a sense of self-importance, but also a devaluation of the importance of others.

As a (fairly) normal person, I cannot possibly fathom stealing anything from someone else. I can't picture myself breaking into someone's car, smashing out a window, or vandalizing someone else's stuff in any other way. Any thought of violence or vandalism or harm immediately triggers the reflection, "what if that happened to me?", or in some cases, "remember how it felt when that happened to me?" It's human compassion. Now, by no means am I a bleeding heart, but I know what it's like to work hard for the things I have and, generally speaking, I like other humans. I don't want to negatively impact anyone else's life, and when possible, I try to improve the world around me. The more I think about it, I realize my upbringing in the Girl Scouts has a lot to do with that. So, to all the people who made fun of me over the years for wearing that silly uniform everywhere, suck it. I'm a well-adjusted and compassionate human, and you're all out robbing people and being jerks in bars.

Of course, my ultimate wish is that everyone would just be nice to each other. It's a stretch, I know. The vast majority of us are just trying to get through life without complete and utter failure. Remember that we're all traveling toward the same end, and for fuck's sake, stop stepping over each other to get there.