The other day, on my weekly pilgrimage to Costco, I witnessed a scene that happens all too often in our society. My cart was quite a ways back in the train waiting to pay. As sometimes happens, there weren’t enough tills open, so the trains were long. However, we held out hope, as we watched an employee loading a new till with boxes. This was a good sign. She started to move a few carts out of the way, and someone was bringing a cash drawer to the station. Hallelujah! At this point, my fellow shoppers and I were trying to figure out who should go first, and discussing a fair strategy as Canadians do. The employee then put away the “Next Till Please” sign and we began to execute our plan. That’s when things went south.
Someone from near the caboose was watching the same till preparation and was laying in wait. As soon as the employee touched the sign, this gentleman pounced on the opportunity and ran to the till ahead of the rest of us who had begun to make our way there. As Canadians, we accepted this selfish behaviour with grace and a few head-shaking chuckles. There were a few mutterings under people’s breaths that I’m sure the “gentlemen” in question could hear, but he wasn’t making eye contact with anyone.
These people exist. They are the same people who cut in line at a buffet, load up all the shrimp onto their plate, eat half of them, repeat with another popular item, then stiff the server. They are the same people who race past dozens of cars to the front of a merge lane, then cut in, oblivious to horn blaring and unfriendly hand gestures. They are the same people who go to a movie, alone of course, spot three empty seats, sit in the middle one, then when asked to move, tell them he is waiting for someone. They are the same people who drive by when one of their neighbors who is stuck in the snow is getting pushed. They are the same people who mow their lawn, or shovel their sidewalk to within a millimetre of their property line, only to call bylaw to report others not doing so.
In my younger days, these people would get my goat, and I would sometimes go out of my way to prevent them from these behaviours. I’ve come to realize that this behaviour of theirs is “hardwired,” and hoping they will change is like telling a salmon to swim downstream. It’s just not in their nature.
These people are like mosquitos bites on your rear-end: harmless, but irritating. And if you are one these people, please know, while you are taking care of numero uno, you look like a numero dos.
Rick Owen, St. Albert
