The Daily Gripe #32 - Grumpy Old Man

It's time for The Daily Gripe from Average Joe American.

Yesterday, before taking off to take my son to the Indianapolis Zoo for his birthday, we stopped at Kroger to cash in the change from my son's piggy bank. We also had to pick up some Infant's Tylenol for my daughter, and found ourselves with a lenghty wait in line for the only register open. This is becoming an all too common occurrence at Kroger. Being a Retail Store Manager myself, I have very little patience for such things when I'm a customer. There really is no excuse for it.

After what felt like the first two days of waiting, another Cashier came up and called out, "I can help someone on six." The people behind us, of course, rushed into the newly opened checkout before we could respond. You may find this acceptable, but I do not. I always defer to the people who have waited longer than I when such a thing happens. It's basic common courtesy.

What seemed like the next day, the "Front End Supervisor," as her plaque beneath her picture on the wall described her, stepped out of the office to open another register. This time, she came directly to us and said, "I can take the next person in line on seven." As we started to change lines, an elderly black man who is apparently a well-known regular customer of this particular Kroger store swept into the new line ahead of us. This same Supervisor who had come directly to us explained to the "gentleman" that she needed to ring us first because we had been waiting much longer. The old man ignored her and began placing his selections on the conveyor. She repeated herself. He acknowledged, and continued. This grumpy old man, for whom I can think of various other labels that are no more flattering, not only was rude enough to forge ahead of people who had been waiting in line -- including several in line behind us -- but also paid no heed when the Cashier tried to explain common courtesy to him. That really gripes me!

Why is it that most people today have no courtesy, no concern for thier fellow humans? Were they just never taught manners? Or have we begun to evolve (if you believe in evolution, which I don't) back into animals? Did we lose it somewhere? Or have we just never had it? Or do older people really think that they're just so special that don't have to be polite anymore.

I'm all for deferring to senior citizens, but I can't see myself ever being so impolite as this crotchety old man was yesterday, not even if I live to be 104!

Joe