What is Wrong with People?

[kangarau]

I had to run a few errands this morning, and I wanted to punch a wall by the time I finished.

First, the Fed-Ex office.  Spouse asked me to overnight something for him.  In line before me was a guy mailing four huge tires.  Yes, tires.  Now, they were four identical tires, so a reasonable person would assume that each weighed exactly the same, right

Comments

[lordiceman]

I'm becoming progressively less timid about speaking out about self-absorbed rude behavior.

We went to the movies last weekend. The young woman in the row directly in front of us decided there was an important text message she needed to send midway through the film. So there's this bright light directly in front of us, shining in our peripheral vision just below the screen. I don't say anything because I assume she'll make it quick and be done with it, but instead she goes on to exchange several messages, clicking away. I attempt to block it out by shielding my eyes with my knee. She stops and then takes the phone out a second time and then a third time. Pissed by now, I'd had enough and said just loud enough to be heard by those around us, "The glow from that cell phone is really distracting." She quickly turned it off and put it away without turning around or saying a word. End of problem.

Even better was an incident on the plane from Boston to Rome on Alitalia (first leg of the Cairo flight). We're on a big-ass plane in the middle section with 4 seats across. With a row all to ourselves, we sit next to each other in the two left seats, while claiming a third seat to our right to stash a few belongings and articles of clothing. Shortly thereafter, a 30something American guy claims the aisle seat in our row. Among his first douchebag moves is to deposit some of his own stuff directly on top of my baseball cap and iPod. A sign of things to come.

I sleep for a good chunk of the flight. At some point several hours through, I get up to use the restroom. I put my airline-issued pillow and blanket down in the seat to my right with my other stuff.

I'm away from my seat for 3-4 minutes tops, perhaps less. When I return to settle back in, my pillow is gone. Check the floor, under the seats, under the blanket, no sign of it. Then I look to my right, where the guy at the end of the row is nestled into pillow central. Two sticking out from behind his back and neck, and one propped between his face and shoulder. There is no question this man has knowingly stolen my pillow. Did he think the pillow fairy mysteriously left one for him that had not been there the previous 4 hours?

So I stew over it for a while. I don't want it back now that he's been sweating and slobbering all over it. I don't want say nothing either and allow asshole behavior to go unchallenged. But I keep silent and stew some more.

Finally, we're preparing to land. The pillow thief stirs up a little bit, and unable to contain myself any longer I blurt out, "Enjoying all those *pillows*??".

It was kinda surreal, because I couldn't believe I did that, but it also felt really good to not let it go. "Oh, was that yours?", he mutters back, feigning ignorance, "all you had to do was tap me on the shoulder." Yeah right, I'm sure he would've responded to that so pleasantly... being woken up to reclaim a stupid free airline pillow.

I have my limits. Don't mess with a man's pillow.