Quick Rant

I'm supposed to be doing all sorts of other things for work and such, but I have to take a moment to grace the blogging community with my opinion. We just got back from WalMart, so I have plenty of material.

I thought when people grew up, they... well, grew up. I thought that adults were better behaved, more responsible, less foul-mouthed, and in general, better people than teenagers or children. I have come to the discouraging realization that this is simply not true. People grow up to be the same kind of people they were when they were teenagers. They skirt the law, they make up excuses, they're late for things, they dismiss responsibilities and they're bad examples. I was, for some reason, under the impression that when people grew up, they grew out of some of those behaviors.

Case(s) in point:
I was looking at half price Halloween candy at Walmart tonight, deciding what to buy for treats for my classroom. (Out of my own pocket, IRS!) I was maybe a foot away from what I was looking at. There was a whole aisle of half price candy - and it was all the same stuff; taffy, dum dum pops, candy corn and gummy lifesaver things. A lady walks up, reaches right in front of my face and starts rummaging through the candy. Not even the usual Utah/Idaho "Excuse me" that people think is license to do whatever rude thing it is that they want to do. I was not having happy thoughts about said lady. Go look at the same candy somewhere else. I'm standing right here! And it's not like I'd been standing there for an hour clogging up the aisle. Seriously lady? And this all happened right after an older gentleman eating a hamburger from the in-store McDonald's (really?) bumped into me and Charlie to reach over and look at the same stupid candy I was looking at.

Also - while walking into the store, an adult woman (maybe my age or a little older) was looking at something with a woman that appeared to be her mother. She decided she didn't want whatever it was, and tossed it back on the shelf, which it promptly fell off of. Her mom kind of said something - the woman turned around, looked at it on the floor, turned back around and walked away. Both of them!! What?! I thought the mom was telling her to pick up whatever she just basically threw on the floor, but apparently it was just an exclamation that whatever it was had fallen to the ground. And it hit me that I was actually shocked that an adult would drop something on the floor, not pick it up, and just walk away. Who does that? Seriously lady?! Kids routinely leave trash, food, and trays all over the cafeteria, waiting for someone to clean up after them. And it's annoying, and they should know better, but they're kids.

I was in the school office a couple of weeks ago when a mother brought her teenager into school late. In her pajamas. Um. Really? They weren't even like... exercise clothes or sweats or something that could possibly be disguised as normal every day wear. No wonder our students are wearing their pajamas to school.

I don't get people!!!!

And don't even get me started on some of the behavior I see from my co-workers. We are teachers. We are supposed to be teaching children how to be good citizens, good students, good people. And some of us are doing a pretty crappy job of it.

What I want to know is this: Is the world losing the decency of common manners? Unfortunately, I have no doubt that it is. People are, in general, more rude, selfish, inconsiderate, foul-mouthed, ignorant and oblivious. It seems that for a lot of people, they honestly don't think about other people before they do or say something. And in this part of the country it often gets touted as "free speech" or simply "freedom". Because no one should be able to tell me that I can or can't do something. That's an infringement on my rights. And I'm not just saying that because that's a common response from a teenager who thinks they've figured out the system. It seems to be the attitude of the adults too. "Who are you to tell me what to do?!"

I just thought adults were supposed to be more responsible. I thought they were supposed to be more honest. But they lie just as much as their kids do. They lie about why their kids weren't at school. They lie about family circumstances that prevent their kids from doing what's required of them. They lie so their kids can get good grades. And a lot of times we know they're lying and there's nothing we can do about it.

People walk across your lawn. People call during dinner, or late at night. People give out your cell phone number and call it whenever they want to for whatever they want to. People send texts in place of conversations they don't want to have and expect immediate responses. People write official/professional documents in colloquial language with incorrect grammar and spelling. People use swear words in normal conversation, no matter the audience. People don't dress appropriately for the occasion. They wear sandals to work. Women wear pants (and skirts) they can't modestly do their jobs in. (Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think you should ever see your teachers' toes, or uhm... butt cracks.) Women don't cover their legs. Women wear flip flops to church. People butt in, and squeeze through. People do not wait. If you're where they want to be, they've waited too long already.
(Before you tell me, I am well aware that some of these things are nit-picky, out-of-style, and outdated. But that's the beauty of a blog. It's my opinion.)

I'm sure I'm not the most polite person. I try to write professionally, speak articulately, and act responsibly. Most of the time, I try. Unless you just parked yourself right in front of whatever I was looking at at the grocery store. Then all bets are off.