Hi Everyone,
Several years ago, as I was watching a reality show, one of the two people on camera said, “I don’t really like people.” I understood that, 15 years of retail will do that to a person. That’s why I thought, “I get it. I don’t really like people either.”
The other person, who was far younger, was aghast! He could not understand how or why someone else could feel that way. I understood that too. But the one thing I couldn’t figure out was how to write this blog. As usual it has been on my mind. Thankfully, the Universe always has a way of helping me out. This is what I mean.
On my way to the grocery store I was wracking my brain. How was I going to write this blog in a way that would have people understand and not hate me? Let’s face it, this is not an easy subject. But I just kept on thinking. All the way there and while in the grocery store, my mind would not stop.
A few minutes into my excursion I said to a man pushing a big metal cart, “It is so quiet in here. This is an amazing time to do my grocery shopping. I think I’ll come at this time more often. ” He said, “Yeah, it’s a great time. I like it too. I start at 12 midnight and I finish at 8:30. I fucking hate people!” BINGO!!!
I was speechless. I looked at him like he discovered sliced bread and said in awe and wonder, “I know what you mean. I hate people too.” And then our conversation started with the how’s and why’s.
He began with how people pick up and dropped whatever they want in places that they don’t belong. “Like this bag of chips, is supposed to be here, not with the potatoes. Any time I go shopping at (name of store) I always see coffee cups and empty pop cans, just garbage everywhere. On the shelves, on top of stacks of pop, people don’t care. They just do what they want, when they want. Never thinking about other people. Their needs, that second, that’s it!”
“Yeah, I hate it when I find produce in the cereal aisle and coffee cups everywhere too. Especially in clothing stores. A table full of sweaters, etc. and a coffee cup, juice cup. This is in the mall! The mall has lots of garbage boxes, sometimes only a few feet from the entrance of the store, but people don’t use them. When people leave their garbage everywhere, it’s called littering! I don’t like moving other people’s garbage to look at things, so I just end up leaving.”
We both agree that when people do that they are lazy, dazey and maybe a bit crazy. I start with another story.
“I came here on the Saturday after it was closed for Good Friday knowing the store would be busy because it was going to be closed the next day for Easter Sunday. Some man who wanted me to move faster than I could kicked the backs of my boots a couple of times. I guess he thought that would help move me along. I turned and gave him cut-eye. He looked away and backed off.
“After I told that to the lady in front of me, we both agreed that people should have known it was going to be busy. Both of our carts had fewer than 10 items. We came for the bare necessities. But then, right on cue another woman said, ‘Oh my God! I can’t believe HOW BUSY IT IS!’ The first woman and I just looked at each other.”
“Oh yeah,” he says. “People are idiots! Like I understand people need people to help them with things, talk to, you know, but I just don’t get. Where are the smart nice people?”
“They are out there, they are just REALLY HARD to find. But here’s the thing, not only are some people idiots, some of them try to convince us that we’re idiots too. Like last night just after 6 pm, someone knocks on my door, I invite them in and they ask if I have any shower gel. I just looked at her in sheer disbelief and think to myself, ‘Are you FRIGGING KIDDING ME??? We’re going down THAT road again? You know that I always have at least 5 shower gels on hand at any given time. You’ve seen the inside of my closets! One looks like a store! You name it, I have it, neatly organized on a shelving unit, floor to almost ceiling.’”
“A few seconds pass and I ask her with complete curiosity, ‘Shower gel?’ And she says, ‘Ya, you know, that gel that you use in the shower? To wash yourself.’ Her voice is desperate for me to understand her. I continue to give her a blank stare because that is ALL I can do from exploding. But then she decides to say shower gel again as she is having a make believe shower in my entrance way! Because she really wanted to educate me on shower gel.”
“Just as she thinks I have no idea what she is talking about, even though I know EXACTLY what shower gel is, I ask her to follow me to the big closet that looks like the inside of a store. I turn the light on, but still can’t really see so I grab my flashlight. Now both of us can clearly see EXACTLY what I have in that closet. I shine the light on the shower gels because I only have 11, and she excitedly asks, ‘What does that one smell like?’ Different colours have different scents. That’s when I turn to her and in a maternal tone say, “Ya, you know what, I’m watching my money. How about A fragrance sample?”
“I start getting a box down, rummage through it, close the lid, open another box, close the lid, grab a clear bag filled with samples, grab another clear bag and give her ONE sample. Because the way I look at it, she may as well smell nice if she isn’t going to shower!’” He burst out laughing! It was great!
“But here is the thing,” I continue. “She knew that we were going to see each other again in less than an hour, so she knew I was going to be polite. She was just hoping for stupid! I gave her a boundary like 2 years ago when she asked me for a WHOLE cup of sugar. I gave her what I wanted. Did she think I forgot about that? But before she leaves, I tell her about someone who isn’t speaking to me, because, try as they may, I am still not buying what THEY ARE SELLING! And that’s something beyond stupid!”
“People ACTUALLY make themselves unlikeable ALL THE TIME!” He agrees. Then he rants for a while on a couple of different topics. “They just treat you like you’re a FUCKING IDIOT!”
That’s when I stop him. “Hold on, hold on. They have to do that, because a lot of people really are idiots! A lot of people just don’t think anymore! They’ve never been taught to think. For their whole lives, everyone has told them they are great, wonderful, whatever when they’re not! So over the years of their hearing they are great and wonderful, they actually started to believe it!” (Here is a link to a blog called, You’re Not That Great, http://arebelsrant.com/youre-not-that-great/ . And here’s a link to a great rant by Harlan Ellison, http://arebelsrant.com/harlan-ellison/ the last link is the one I am referring to. And while we’re at here’s a link to another I blog I posted called, Harlan Ellison Dark Dreamer’s My Thoughts, http://arebelsrant.com/harlan-ellison-dark-dreamers-part-3-my-thoughts/ )
“If they could do no wrong before, why would they start now? In their minds, they are GREAT, PERFECT and THAT’S the problem.” This led us to parenting, or lack thereof and a few other things. One being how people twist our words so that they sound smart as they talk down to us, or try to get us to buy into whatever they are selling because we’re the idiots right? WRONG!!!
Oh we discussed A LOT of different ways as to why we don’t really like people. I gave him a few more examples.
I check my cell phone for the time as he speaks with me. “It’s 7:52, I guess I won’t make it home before 8 now,” I say.
Jokingly he says, “What? I told you I was working until 8:30 am. You’re going now?” But I did. Both of us laughing as we went back to our lives. ;D
Later that day I told some people about my trip to the grocery store. Everyone I spoke with had a few stories, agreed that some people really do make themselves unlikeable and that is why they too, don’t really like people!
Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D
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