Mind your manners
OK. I know that my friends think I’m nuts for not simply accepting that this is the way things are now, but I can’t and I won’t.
A woman was getting on the bus and only had a $5 bill, so she called out to see if anyone had change. As I had lots, I offered to give her some.
I should have seen the signal to do nothing (she didn’t include a please in her request); however, I’ve been in that position (lack of exact bus fare) and thought I could help.
She repeated to me at least three times, in a rather demanding tone, that she needed “two toonies and four quarters.” (I understood that the first time, ma’am.)
When I handed her the change, she asked if it was two toonies and four quarters then she counted it.
After counting the money, she proceeded to pay her fare, then left me standing near the front of the bus and didn’t even acknowledge me, let alone say thank you.
WTF?!
I (obviously) didn’t do a sobriety test on her, but she didn’t seem to be impaired (aside from her rudeness, of course). And she’s probably too self-involved to recognise herself in this rant, were she to read it, so a description is apt.
She had (dyed?) blonde hair, was wearing a dark jacket with a pink scarf, had a male friend all in dark at the back of the bus and they exited at Thurlow and Davie.
Earlier that same day, a young 20-something woman saw that I had some M&Ms and asked if she could have some. I actually had to say to her – a grown woman – “What’s the magic word?”
People are free to act any way in which they like, but I’m equally free to ignore someone when the person asking doesn’t have the common decency to ask for it politely.
My 2017 New Year’s resolution? To ensure that I preface my requests of friends and strangers with “please” (which should be easy, as I do it already) and to ignore any impolite requests that are directed at me. A friend of mine says please is implied. (Nancy, that’s a bogus, lazy attempt to excuse rudeness.) And, for those who are unaware, it’s usually followed, around these parts, by, “Thank you.”
–John M.
