The last bastion of civility and decency...
I believe I have found it, the last bastion of civility and decency left standing in these 'hurry up and do something for me' times we find ourselves in. I realized it as I was leaving, but I appreciated it nonetheless as I was holding the door open for another lady who was entering.
She actually said "Thank you." Thank you are two words you only hear in a mall when someone is handing your receipt across the counter, and even then it's not really a thank you as much as it is a 'ok we're done here, move along, next' motion cloaked in congeniality.
I turned and looked at the Borders books, and recalled how people said pardon me, excuse me, thank you, and you're welcome at every turn. I recalled how people were cordial within it's book laden confines, neither ignoring each other nor staring obsessively at them either. I let my eyes move down the length of stores that make up the strip mall in which I have been shopping for more than a year, until they fell upon the antithesis of the experience I had just lived, the store marked with the big yellow sign reading 'Best Buy'. In Best Buy, you would be lucky if anyone stopped playing playstation long enough to piss on you if you were on fire. In Best Buy, people brush past you on their way to buy the new 'fiddy' cd without so much as an acknowledgement of your existence.
Why? The question pops into my head, as it usually does in these situations. I swear 'why?' sits in my head like a cocked and loaded jack-in-the-box, and whatever I'm mulling over is the turning crank.
I digress...the reason the shopping experience is so different between the two places is because dumbasses don't shop in bookstores. Dumbasses would rather flaunt their pretty plumage where others of their breed can appreciate it, and I daresay anyone tooling around borders books with their headphones blasting would be a bit out of their element. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure books are to dumbasses as holy water and garlic are to vampires.
That's right fool...it burns, it burns.
I've noticed the same phenomena in places like Staples, Comp USA, and Men's Wearhouse as much as I've witnessed it's antithesis in places like Wal-Mart, Old Navy, and Target. It's because Staples, Comp USA and Men's Wearhouse are typically patronized by intelligent people who enjoy the comforts of civilization and have elevated themselves to a higher standard. As opposed to your typical Old Navy shopper, who has de-evolved to a more feral territorial state, where 'excuse me' is seen as a sign of weakness in the scavenger culture they find themselves in. So, rather than saying 'thank you', the shopper in the lower set takes a warning swipe at you for eyeballing it's prize. Despite the fact there's an entire bin of them right behind you.
She actually said "Thank you." Thank you are two words you only hear in a mall when someone is handing your receipt across the counter, and even then it's not really a thank you as much as it is a 'ok we're done here, move along, next' motion cloaked in congeniality.
I turned and looked at the Borders books, and recalled how people said pardon me, excuse me, thank you, and you're welcome at every turn. I recalled how people were cordial within it's book laden confines, neither ignoring each other nor staring obsessively at them either. I let my eyes move down the length of stores that make up the strip mall in which I have been shopping for more than a year, until they fell upon the antithesis of the experience I had just lived, the store marked with the big yellow sign reading 'Best Buy'. In Best Buy, you would be lucky if anyone stopped playing playstation long enough to piss on you if you were on fire. In Best Buy, people brush past you on their way to buy the new 'fiddy' cd without so much as an acknowledgement of your existence.
Why? The question pops into my head, as it usually does in these situations. I swear 'why?' sits in my head like a cocked and loaded jack-in-the-box, and whatever I'm mulling over is the turning crank.
I digress...the reason the shopping experience is so different between the two places is because dumbasses don't shop in bookstores. Dumbasses would rather flaunt their pretty plumage where others of their breed can appreciate it, and I daresay anyone tooling around borders books with their headphones blasting would be a bit out of their element. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure books are to dumbasses as holy water and garlic are to vampires.
That's right fool...it burns, it burns.
I've noticed the same phenomena in places like Staples, Comp USA, and Men's Wearhouse as much as I've witnessed it's antithesis in places like Wal-Mart, Old Navy, and Target. It's because Staples, Comp USA and Men's Wearhouse are typically patronized by intelligent people who enjoy the comforts of civilization and have elevated themselves to a higher standard. As opposed to your typical Old Navy shopper, who has de-evolved to a more feral territorial state, where 'excuse me' is seen as a sign of weakness in the scavenger culture they find themselves in. So, rather than saying 'thank you', the shopper in the lower set takes a warning swipe at you for eyeballing it's prize. Despite the fact there's an entire bin of them right behind you.
posted earlier by DM, the resident idiot
6 Comments:
Interesting comparison to say the least. Maybe it's that I'm a sophisticated woman, but I RARELY have issues with store employees. Even at Best Buy. :) When their sales clerks see a girl perusing the video game aisle they usually rush over to help. :P They do this because it doesn't happen very often and they're interested to see where the deviant in our gender occurred. hahahah!
So I'm more of a social experiment than a consumer at that point.
And I happen to like Old Navy. Where else can you get a new wardrobe for $50? :D
Oh, I don't often have issues with the employees, although it has happened on several occasions that my willingness to purchase has infringed on the checkout staff's conversation and grabassery.
Especially at Best Buy, where it's apparent they have a 'grab-ass' quota.
LOL-You took the words right out of my mouth, only you said it much better than I would have. Unfortunatley I live in the land of stay-at-home moms and housewives so when I'm at store in the middle of the day, no matter which store, I get the same "OMG what is she wearing?!" face from all the barbie clones in $80 sandals. Yesterday a friend and I took the kids to the fast food hell with the playland for 2 hours. Only 1 other mother said a word to either of us the entire time. I think I'd rather have the idiots to entertain me than to be the entertainment for the snobs.
I was just thinking the same thing this weekend at the bookstore. Not only do people say "excuse me" and "Thank you", but a little old lady dropped a book and a young person stopped and picked it up for her! They had a short but nice conversation and each went on there merry way.
Don't get me started on Best-buy, I swear we share the same brain Dave. Spooky.
HAHA..
Yes, they had best say their prayers in Best Buy...you'll see when I publish my Dear Santa letter.
I'm feeling the angst behind this post, all the way. And in that vein, I had another encounter with someone who doesn't quite get the principle behind "elevator etiquette" this morning on my way in to the office. It's just enough to curdle my morning mood and fuel my intense dislike for inconsiderate people.
Post a Comment
<< Home