mr. rude.

maybe i've been working in the "service industry" for too long, but anyone who does or ever has worked in the wonderful field of customer service, you've come to realize there are four types of people out there: normal people, inconsiderate people, ignorant people and the people who are a combination of inconsiderate AND ignorant.

we're not going to talk about the "normal" people. you know, the people like you and i (you and me? me and you? fuck insipid grammar.) and most people we associate ourselves with, those we consider our friends, or at the very least - acquaintances. birds of a feather...

in my book, being inconsiderate is worse than being ignorant. it's as simple as the age-old phrase, minding your Ps and Qs. (hyperlink for anyone who's still wondering why it's Ps and Qs and not Ps and Ts.) please and thank you go such a long way and people just don't... give... a fuck. it's ridiculous. (i almost said "ridonkulous," because it's just that ridiculous.) i have gotten into the (somewhat)horrible habit of snidely saying, "you're welcome." with an as-genuine-as-can-be smile after doing a favor/task/what-have-you and not receiving a simple, "thank you." par exemple, holding the door open for someone... AND a train of their friends follow, NONE of whom thanked you, someone needs to teach them. might as well be me.

ignorance is a little different because that entails the notion that they are simply unaware. tipping is an easy and perfect example. anyone who has waited tables or stirred up cocktails behind a bar knows that "foreigners don't tip." well news flash, neither do a shit-ton of other people, for god knows what reasons.  young people ('88, not '89!) sure as hell don't tip. the ones who bust out a subway map at your table along with a frommer's guide to travel, probably won't be tipping. and as for the rest of this group, at the risk of taking it too far, let's just say... that stereotypes continue to exist for a reason. but mayhaps, they genuinely don't realize, that that tips are our sole income.

one of my regulars says to me today, "it's because you're not allowed to hit your kids anymore." and for the first time, i actually kinda agreed with that statement. i'm not talking about beating your kids, but what's wrong with a spanking? if your words aren't cutting it, give 'em a little smack on the behind. i can't stand watching a parent grabbing, yelling curse words and dragging their wailing kid around the store by their tiny little arm, because if that shit's going on in public god only knows what's going on at home. i also don't know what it's like to be a parent. but i seriously look at parents who sit there at a restaurant, silent - or worse, carrying on with their own shit - while their miscreant little spawns are running around, throwing condiments over mezzanines, smashing and throwing goldfish crackers all over the goddamn place - and i think to myself, "if that were me, my parents woulda..."

my parents actually never laid a hand on me, or my brother. but my grandmama was a different story, i remember many a days running around our oval glass-top dining room table with my grandma close behind flailing a wooden spoon in the air. but nothing traumatic. nothing that left permanent scars inside or out, other than a lessons learned... and an interesting list fears all having to do with wooden spoons.

the point is, you don't have to lay a hand on your kids to teach them simple basic manners. even if you don't learn that shit at home, don't they teach you at school?! when you request something you say, "please." when you receive something... you say, "thank you." and fucking tip your servers and bartenders!