Maybe I won't go back to this McDonalds
Sheesh. Saturdays are my usual fast food days, since I usually end up postponing eating until I'm starving; so, I happened to stop at towards the McDonalds on El Camino near Highway 92. I wanted to just get my food and re-read A Feast for Crows, since I remember loving the series but the details are beginning to escape me. So I wait at the counter, get my food and drink, and head towards the dining area.
Now, this McDonalds is pretty badly laid out in crowded situation. The line to the counter cuts the drink section away from the tables; and sure enough, at this time, it was crowded. I came away from the drinks, saw two holes in the lines (people obligingly shifted as I came near holding a tray, which is pretty much what one does when standing in a line and somebody is trying to get through; I slid on through and started eating). Fine, what a boring series of event ... why are you writing this down, the reader probably asks.
Apparently a large man in the line decided I had an obigation to say the magic words "excuse me" to him because he had shifted in line to let me by. Not only that, he came over to my table and informed me of this obligation, along with a threat to "dump me on my ass" the next time I didn't do so. (Actually, he came over twice; the last of which was something along the lines of if I was there in an hour, he was going to come back and deal with me. Admittedly, I wasn't trying to defuse the situation; had I properly kowtowed to his awesomenes, he probably would have been content).
So yeah, that annoyed me. For one thing, I don't think I was rude in the first place; I will pardon myself if I need to get someone's attention who's in my way, if someone is put to particular inconvenience, or occasionally to acknowledge them, but for the most part I think cutting through a line is like walking down a sidewalk in the city: people just shift to deal with it, rather than being continually apologetic. Am I being too insensitive here? Plus, of course, I'm pretty sure coming over to someone and threatening them is even ruder, so I'll count myself relatively in the right.
(As it happens, I was almost done with my burger, so I didn't end up waiting around an hour to see if he'd actually come back).
Now, this McDonalds is pretty badly laid out in crowded situation. The line to the counter cuts the drink section away from the tables; and sure enough, at this time, it was crowded. I came away from the drinks, saw two holes in the lines (people obligingly shifted as I came near holding a tray, which is pretty much what one does when standing in a line and somebody is trying to get through; I slid on through and started eating). Fine, what a boring series of event ... why are you writing this down, the reader probably asks.
Apparently a large man in the line decided I had an obigation to say the magic words "excuse me" to him because he had shifted in line to let me by. Not only that, he came over to my table and informed me of this obligation, along with a threat to "dump me on my ass" the next time I didn't do so. (Actually, he came over twice; the last of which was something along the lines of if I was there in an hour, he was going to come back and deal with me. Admittedly, I wasn't trying to defuse the situation; had I properly kowtowed to his awesomenes, he probably would have been content).
So yeah, that annoyed me. For one thing, I don't think I was rude in the first place; I will pardon myself if I need to get someone's attention who's in my way, if someone is put to particular inconvenience, or occasionally to acknowledge them, but for the most part I think cutting through a line is like walking down a sidewalk in the city: people just shift to deal with it, rather than being continually apologetic. Am I being too insensitive here? Plus, of course, I'm pretty sure coming over to someone and threatening them is even ruder, so I'll count myself relatively in the right.
(As it happens, I was almost done with my burger, so I didn't end up waiting around an hour to see if he'd actually come back).