First Real Post. Let's see

Alright, so I have to start somewhere on this blog, so I will start with some things that annoyed me yesterday. I went apple picking. I never thought I would bother doing that. It seems to be a ridiculous thing to do as far as I am concerned. Something that urban people do to make themselves feel a part of where there food comes from. I get it. I understand why that is an important thing, but I didn't grow up in an urban setting. I remember picking fruit off the trees at my parent's and grandparent's house. I was always annoyed with garden chores, so I never saw a reason to do something like this when they pick all the apples for you already and pack them up all nicely at the farm stand anyway. But I wanted to make applesauce, so I figured it might be easier to just pick them off the tree instead of emptying out the farm of all their pre-picked apples.

There are a lot of bees in a apple orchard, but this is not my point. I still don't really see the appeal to apple picking, but what I really don't understand is the behavior of the people that go apple picking. I thought that this was supposed to be a fun, family oriented thing. Something you take the children to, maybe enjoy some nice hot cider too. But if this behavior is what is normal on family gatherings...

The checkout lines were long. There were two of them and we just got into one of them. After standing there for quite a while, we were informed that it was a cash only line, and we would have to move to the other, now much longer line and wait all over again. So we did. There was a bit of annoyance of course, but just basically because the bags of apples were heavy. We, and many others moved to the other line. The woman behind us was joking around and pointing out that isn't it sad how many people don't carry cash anymore.

So, we waited, and waited and waited. We finally got to the front of the line. The man next to us in the cash only line had just learned that he couldn't pay with a credit card, and started making a scene. He was furious that there was no sign above the line. He was telling the poor cashier that he should be able to use the other machine, even though he couldn't. He was angry that there had been a computer crash and that there was no way to pay with a credit card at that machine anymore. Of course all of this was the end of the world. And he wasn't the only one. The other people near the front of my line started going on about how such a thing was unacceptable.

Clearly these people were all missing something here. What was unacceptable was their behavior. They acted like children throwing a temper tantrum and would not stop for anything. There were children in the line that got to witness this, lovely, behavior of these adults. I did not know any of the people doing this, and I am thankful for that. I would have been embarrassed to admit that I knew them. Hell, I was embarrassed to be standing anywhere near them. I felt bad for the poor cashier. I can't figure out how they would think that this computer crash was his fault. Obviously he wanted to make the computer fail. Obviously.

I didn't say what I was thinking at the time. It is best that I didn't. But I will say it here, to all people who think that behavior like that is acceptable on any level. Rude behavior like that is not accepted by the people around you. You are behaving like a child throwing a temper tantrum and the people that are unfortunate enough to be standing next to you are only going to think badly of you. You clearly have no restraint on your behavior and you should be ashamed that you would act like that in public, in a line where there are children that are taught everyday to not behave in such a manner. You are an embarrassment to all of us and the people who know you should be ashamed as well. You have made everyone here look bad, and why? For a few extra minutes of inconvenience on a day where you were supposed to be enjoying time with your friends and family. Go home now. Go home and feel good about yourself. Go home and feel good that the people around you don't want to be seen in public around you. Fell good knowing that the people in line that day saw you at your best. Thank you for that display. We all appreciate the reminder of how not to act.