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I went to the recycling center today. I had packaged everything up one day last week and forgot to go. I thought it would be a good idea to get it all out of the house before the New Year begins.
Evidently, so did everyone else in Wichita. There were cars lined up in the driveway, down the block, and around the corner.
After I had been sitting for more than half an hour, another car approached from the other direction and sat there with its blinker going. The driver actually thought that one of the cars in line would make way for him. Eventually, he gave up and got in the back of the line.
Now, here was a person doing the right thing – recycling instead of dumpstering – who thought he could get away with doing a wrong thing – cutting in line instead of waiting his turn. One wonders if he was conniving or merely oblivious.
People who think they should get special treatment always amuse me. Sometimes they get downright huffy when they can’t get their way – like I am the one in the wrong. It’s amazing how often they get away with it, too.
Getting away with it is the problem, of course. They’ve gotten away with it for so long that they think it’s their due. They forget that, in America, they are merely equal, not better.
That kind of thinking is what’s behind the people who insist that affirmative action discriminates against young, white men. They’re so busy being upset that someone might be getting something they’re not getting that they don’t open their eyes to see that maybe they’ve been getting something for nothing all their lives.
This is the worst kind of entitlement thinking, the outlook that the world owes us something. Americans were once known for NOT thinking that way. We were known as the self-reliant, independent sort. We’re still independent, but it too often takes the shape of being bull-headed and unwilling to listen to anyone else’s views, let alone do what we’re told.
We insist that things should be done OUR way, but we can’t all be leaders in our personal army. If we don’t back up the leaders we have, we pretty soon won’t have any army at all. I’m hoping that we can remember all that this coming year as the leaders we have chosen try to dig us out of this hole.
I’m not suggesting we should go back to the day when we duck our heads and tug our forelocks, but maybe we need to re-learn a little humility.
And stop cutting in line.
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2 comments:
I've felt this way about the country for a long time. In addition to being a nation that expects to be able to cut in line, we seem to be a nation that expects to be given a trophy (preferably the size of a television set) just for showing up.
Of course, all of this has to change. How it will change, I don't know. But it surely has to change.
I have been amazed at the culture here in Norway. Before moving to Norway I read a few books on the culture, plus I relied upon my several trips to Norway to give me insights into the culture and customs. The culture books say that Norwegians cannot stand in line. There is a law here, Jante Law which states that no one is better than anyone else, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jante_Law. So, any line becomes a disorganized mob.
Last summer I was at the Amsterdam Airport. The seating area was between two gates. The first gate was for Stockholm Sween and the second gate was for Oslo Norway. The gate for Sweden was opened first. The Swedes formed a nice long organized line. When the gate for Norway was open there was a mad dash and lots of pushing and shoving. The gate agent kept begging and damanding that the Norwegians line-up, but first give way for families. They wouldn't line-up and people with small children were separated from children and strollers. It was awful. I chuckled to myself that yep, I indeed had the correct gate.
I have met many foreigners in Norway, and one of the common observations is that Norwegians are docile unless they need to form a line and then they crush and push with little regard for anyone else.
At supermarkets look out. If you are in line to check out and you turn your head, a Norwegian will sneak in front of you. This happens all the time. If you stop in front of the vegetables to look for canned carrots, a sinle Norwegian or a group of Norwegians will lodge themself/ves between you, your cart and the item you are reaching for. They won't move and you need to with a somewhat whiney voice say "Unskyld" to get them to move. It doesn't always work and they will shoot you an ugly glance which means you snooze you lose, I am here now and you will need to wait...whay would you think you are more important than me?
If a shop clerk is happily visiting with her grandmother on her personal mobile phone, customers must wait for the 5, 10 minutes or so until she is done and will return to the counter. The person on the other end of a Norwegians mobile phone is ALWAYS more important than the person standing in the shop.
There are very few stop signs in Norway. Norway observes the rule that the person coming from the right always has the right away unless there is a stop sign or a yellow diamond. Norwegians fly into traffic and if you are waiting in a line of cars they will do the sneak into the line be slowly coming at you from 45 degrees and try to wedge their car in the line. Unless you are a better driver they win.
I just returned from 12 days in the US. Everyone waited in line. Sometimes people let other people with one or two items cut. The shop clerks all smiled, and a man behind me at the supermarket offered to pay for my groceries when my husband disappeared.
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