personal realization #7

if someone does something that is an exception to the behavior of those around him/her it seriously irks me.  no one should expect "special treatment".  if you are a receipient of "special treatment" then you should be excessively grateful because you didn't earn it or deserve it. 

i learned at a youngish age that i don't know how to keep my mouth shut when someone does something or asks for something that would give them a "leg up" on everyone else.  this personal characterization can best be explained in two personal stories.  one from my youth and one from yesterday.

YOUTH STORY
where:  disneyland in anaheim, california
when:  about 1994 which makes me in my mid-teens
why:  waiting for the Fantasmic evening performance on Tom Sawyer Island

my family and i found a place to stand by a very prominent rope that sectioned off a circular walkway with a tree and bench in the middle.  ropes were placed on both entrances to this small walkway effectively telling the disneyland patron that this area wasn't available for fantasmic viewing.  (refer to my drawing below)  as i stood directly behind the rope i watched about 8-10 people at different times duck under the rope and go stand by the tree.  a nice disneyland cast member would walk over and tell them they couldn't stand there.  the 8-10 people would then put on their best "i had no idea this area wasn't open for watching" expression and duck back under the rope and try to squish next to me.  i got more and more irked, annoyed, bugged by these people who thought those ropes were there to keep everyone else out except them. 

i finally snapped. 

this youngish couple ducked under the rope, cast member told them to leave, they put on the "i had no idea" expression, ducked back under the rope, tried to squish me and I LET THEM HAVE IT!

i distinctly remember saying with disdain dripping from my voice - "do you think i'd be standing behind this rope if i could be closer to the show?  what do you think this rope is here for - to keep me out and make your viewing better?"  then i gave them a very dirty look and elbowed more personal space for myself.  pretty sure the youngish couple was dumbfounded that they were called out on their bad behavior by a teenager. 

my mom and dad looked at me aghast but with some respect and a little bit of "you go girl!" in their eyes.

YESTERDAY'S STORY

where:  radio city music hall on the corner of 6th avenue & 50th street

when:  november 15th at about 3:05pm EST

why:  buying radio city christmas spectacular tickets for my friend physical therapist

got to the box office at radio city to buy the tickets and there were about 18 people in front of me in line.  bummer.  after about 10 minutes, the older man directly in front of me gestured to one of the ticket ushers to come over because he had a question.  he proceeded to start giving the usher grief because he was there to buy barry manilow tickets and everyone else was getting christmas spectacular tickets.  why should he wait?  he wanted to bypass the line to get his tickets for the manilow show happening in FEBRUARY.

...sidenote, i had already had a rough day when i exited my office building to go buy these tickets so wasn't in the best mood or have "what would Jesus do" at the forefront of my mind.  ok back to the story...

i spoke up and asked the man, again with disdain dripping from my voice, "why are your barry manilow tickets more important than my or their christmas spectacular tickets?"  the older gentleman, who was both shorter and smaller in muscle tone than moi, turned to me to berate me for listening in on his "private conversation".  this seemed ridiculous to me since we were standing on a sidewalk in the middle of new york city.  he told me how he hated people who butted into other's conversations when it didn't concern them.  i told him i didn't appreciate people thinking they deserved special treatment.  after a long minute of death staring at each other, he turned back around and i continued to listen to adele on my iPhone. 

the funny thing is that the usher who originally was part of this brew-ha-ha took off as soon as i said something to the man.  he let me fight that battle.  when i finally got to the front of the line the usher supervisor was there and made a grand (and almost loud in volume) apology for the rudeness of the man in front of me.  he hoped i had a wonderful day and would come back to see shows at radio city often.

here's where the personal realization kicks in.  i don't necesarily think that i should be going around berating people for what i consider elitist behavior.  i'm not their mother or father.  plus i don't want to get in a more severe altercation.  i do think there is nothing wrong with being annoyed or frustrated and perhaps asking them to realize that they aren't alone in waiting in a long line for tickets or trying to get the best view of something.  i just think that rules are made to be followed by EVERYONE! 

maybe i should go into law for my next career.  work to make sure rules are obeyed for the greater good.  uhhh, maybe not...lawyer hours are really long and too much school is required.