What’s the Rush?
Posted
October 13, 2006 at
12:40 am by
Cristina
As?‚? the cashier began scanning my items at Trader Joe’s the other day, I heard a woman behind me say in a loud, impatient whisper, “That’s not 15 items.”
I felt my face go hot. I knew she was talking about me. I turned to look at her. She was holding a single bottle of wine and looking very annoyed.
I looked up at the sign hanging above my head, which read “15 items more or less.” I quickly scanned my items and counted exactly 15. OK, so what the heck was her problem? Was she counting my 4-pack of muffins as four items or something?
Now, to be fair, I’ve been her. I’ve stood in line behind the elderly guy at Rite Aid and actually felt ire for him as he insisted on paying his entire bill in change, counting out every. single. excruciating penny. I get the frustration. But, at the same time, it pisses me off. The uptightness of it all. I mean, we seem to be a people with our panties constantly in a bunch. Why is that?
Is it all the time we spend in traffic every day, combined with all the time we spend at work, combined with all the time we spend hauling our kids here and there to activities? Are we just so busy doing so many things that we really, seriously don’t have time to wait as someone in a wheelchair crosses the street in front of us? Is it really necessary to honk at them impatiently? (I kid you not, I’ve seen this happen.)
I know it’s not like this everywhere in the world. When I lived in Italy, I remember being shocked when I would find a business closed during its operating hours. I soon came to find out that just because the store was supposed to be open from 8am to 7pm, didn’t mean it would be. Sometimes store owners had family emergencies and had to open late or leave early. Imagine that! There’d usually be a note on the door that said something like, “Be back in an hour.” No one complained or stomped their feet or took it out on old ladies by honking at them to “move it along” as they hobbled across the crosswalk. No,?‚? people just accepted it and went on their way. Because they were laid back like that.
Why aren’t we laid back like that? Why do I have to deal with snide remarks at the checkout aisle by a too-young-to-look-that-tired thirty-something in line behind me? And for that matter, why do I have circles under my eyes already? Maybe we should give ourselves a break, do a little less and relax a little more.?‚? Maybe then we could get rid of our collective wedgies. Cuz damn, wedgies are really uncomfortable.
Tags: society, stress, work |
17 Responses to “What’s the Rush?”
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1. Kristen said:
October 13, 2006 @ 6:56 am
I notice a huge annoyance from that aged folks sans kids. Not so much the “older” generation. Where’s the empathy? I think until you have kids, it’s hard to have any.
I’m pretty sure I might have been the huffy one behind you in line at one time or another…
2. Amy said:
October 13, 2006 @ 8:10 am
I think there is a ripple effect. We can’t be patient when there is someone waiting for us somewhere…but we can’t hurry up if the person in front of us has no where to go.
3. Mona said:
October 13, 2006 @ 9:01 am
I’ve had near-scuffles at the grocery store before. Mostly, it’s from people who take up the whole damn aisle when I have my gargantuan stroller. It’s like, dude, my stroller with a live human trumps your cart of Hungry Man dinners. Move it or lose it.
4. your twin Andrea said:
October 13, 2006 @ 12:32 pm
TOTALLY! It seems these technological advancements like Internet shopping, overnight shipping, cell phone access, text messaging and all that business have gotten us all in a big damn hurry. I often long for simpler times (as I post on my own blog while the laundry is washing and the dishwasher is running and the TiVo is recording my favorite shows and, and, and…).
When I get impatient with people most is in my car but I’ve learned that being entertained often helps take my mind off my long ass commute and that time can be considered well spent if I’m “reading” an audio book now and then.
5. Michele said:
October 13, 2006 @ 4:13 pm
I feel your pain. I once had a lady cut… yes! cut her way in front of me in the grocery line. She just squeezed in front of me and ignored me when I told her it wasn’t her turn. I imagine this lady is a pain in the ass everywhere else too.
I think of grocery stores as microcosms of our larger society. People who are rude, stressed, thoughtless there are likely to be like that any where they go.
About your situation…just wondering, did you point out that you did have the right amount of items?
6. chelle said:
October 13, 2006 @ 5:02 pm
I find America to be much more intense than Canada. Everything here is go go go!!!!!
Much more laid back up North!
7. Cristina said:
October 13, 2006 @ 5:47 pm
Chelle: this is just another reason I think I should move to Canada
8. Jessica Carlson said:
October 13, 2006 @ 7:12 pm
I’m always in a hurry and I’m really impatient. I so ADHD. I deal with it though because I know it’s my problem and not anyone else’s. I try to be polite and courteous about it, but sometimes, I do find myself wanting to tell people to hurry the hell up! (Not you though. I would never say that to you.)
9. lildb said:
October 13, 2006 @ 9:45 pm
I had a similar experience when living in Brazil, and I really dug it. Shops were closed during lunch. Everyone had long lunches and took naps after lunch. It was *awesome*.
I miss that.
10. Nancy said:
October 14, 2006 @ 11:46 am
We’ve all been the annoyed, almost to the point of rage, person in line - I think it’s part of American DNA. (In between the one for our desire to Super Size everything and our (mis)belief that anyone can “make it” in America by just working really hard.)
Some of my most fond memories of my trips to Ireland involve the laid-back attitude of the Irish - the clerk who helped me count out my money, not out of annoyance, but to be helpful, the gentleman who walked me to my hotel just because he was “going that way” and I looked lost or the bus driver who pulled to the side of the road to alert a farmer that one of his cows seemed to be in labor in the field by the road.
You have touched on one of my biggest pet peeves (even though I am sometimes guilty of it myself.) Just one more thing we could learn from the rest of the world . . . But wait, we already know everything, don’t we?
11. Prescott said:
October 14, 2006 @ 1:48 pm
I’ve been trying to make an effort to not be that person — I take a deep breath and just repeat to myself that 3 extra minutes is not going to make any difference in my schedule. I also try to slow down and avoid drive-thrus at the drugstore and Starbucks. That extra little human interaction is a nice boost to my day.
12. PunditMom said:
October 14, 2006 @ 2:57 pm
The rage in our society over the littlest things is starting to scare me. This week, I had an “intersection” moment — where two cars get to the stop sign at the same time — who should go first. It upset me so much, I had to write about it over at my blog … I really thought the guy was going to jump out the car and try to hurt me, and I had my 6 year old with me.
13. carrie said:
October 15, 2006 @ 4:01 pm
Laid back is a good thing. A very good thing. I can’t even drive outside of suburbia anymore without coming home and needing to vent about the driving experience alone. Unfortunately, I have to travel to get to Trader Joe’s, ugh!
14. Catch said:
October 16, 2006 @ 12:39 am
None of us take time to smell the roses. We are so caught up in our lives we dont stop to think about the other person. We are always running here and there….always in a hurry.
15. tori said:
October 16, 2006 @ 12:42 pm
I had a woman get annoyed when I got wheeled into surgery befor her. Seriously! Like, did she think there was a line and whoever was there first got that particular operation? I’d have been happy to let her have my uterus taken out for me!
I usually let people go ahead of me when they have only one or two items and I have a huge cart full (always, since I have four kids!) But I can’t understand why people can’t just relax!
16. Izzy said:
October 16, 2006 @ 8:57 pm
I think our culture moves a lot faster than in other places. And the more instant gratification we get, the less tolerance we have for waiting on ANYTHING! Instead of reveling in the extra time that we get from all the time saving devices in our lives, we just hurry even more. Kind of sad, really.
17. Much More Than A Mom said:
October 18, 2006 @ 7:07 pm
I agree with Chelle-it’s much more laid back up here. Nowhere near Europe, however. We’ve all got a ways to go.