Is the United States of America going to hell in a hand basket? Have we strayed from the ideals and values which made this country what we like to think it is today: a beacon shining brightly illuminating a world otherwise cold, dark and fearsome? I can't really say. I'll leave discerning the nuance of the zeitgeist to the professionals. I only know about tectonic shifts in our culture and body politic long after they've taken place. But I know for certain that we each of us chooses how we behave and we decide each and every day, multiple times, how we treat one another.
I live in Seattle. Downtown Seattle to be precise, literally across the street from my place of business. My wife is a practicing architect and painter who maintains a studio/office a few blocks from our, yes it's true, loft. We are likely picture postcard worthy examples of Seattle urban liberalism. No car. No kids. Bicycles. Public transit. Enthusiastic recyclers. Avid farmers market habitues. Active in local politics and not-for profit board work and wired into the local music, literary and fine arts communities. Worse yet. But unknown to most, both of us have some background in leftist politics including (but not limited to) collective book stores, cutting sugar in Cuba and various 'do-gooder' experiences working in orphanages in India and Mexico, homeless shelters and soup kitchens. You know the type. Live and let live. Go to work. Pay your taxes.
In other words, irredeemable Stalinist/collectivist/Maoist/tree hugging/weak willed/over-feminized/secular parasites poorly equipped to deal with that great cultural phenomenon growing larger and more powerful day by day.
Real Americans.
My wife visited the Virginia Mason Medical Center first thing yesterday morning for a bit of blood work. Of course before drawing blood medical types prefer the patient fast for twelve hours. And that works better for some than others. Seems a few of us need our morning coffee and toast more than most. Blood sugar levels have behavioral effects. At least I'd like to think so. Cock-eyed optimist I am I'd hate to think some of my fellow citizens are merely assholes.
Sitting quietly in the lab waiting area along with a few others waiting their names called for various procedures, "M" (my spouse), was taking that all too rare opportunity to catch up with People magazine when the scene, shall we say, shifted.
The concept of a man and his cellphone like a man and his car like a man and his gun like a man and his castle is sacrosanct. It's the American way.
So into this quiet waiting room enters seating themselves next to M enter a man and his wife. And his cellphone. The man is a building contractor and one of his jobs (apparently he's a successful building contractor as it almost immediately established there are multiple jobs) has problems. This is shared at rather high volume with the others sitting in the lab waiting area as the man immediately embarks on a series of calls checking up on his minions in the field.
"What do you mean we can't access the site until Tuesday? Assholes! I can drive my truck onto the motherfucker right now if I want"!
"Fuck no. We're done when I say we're done"!
Really. These are a couple of the highlights as reported by M.
Naturally this behavior attracted looks from the folks in the waiting room. They were of course intrigued by this display of one of the newer theories in physics, that is, the center of the universe is not a fixed point but rather a series of points in constant motion depending on where this contractor happens to be at any given moment in time. Multiply this by some as yet incalculable factor as the contractor is not the only agent acting in this manner and one quickly sees the enormity of the problem
M is tough. While she is likely the friendliest person I know who (she likes to make one new friend of a stranger at every social event she attends) nonetheless is not shy about speaking her mind. She, like me, is also a bit of a stickler when it comes to manners and behavior in public places. Call her old-fashioned (or worse as it turns out) but talking loudly on the cellphone in public really is...rude.
So M politely asked Mr. Contractor to please take his conversation outside.
"Mind your own fucking business, bitch!" Now I appreciate as well as the next business person that in today's work harder to earn less cutthroat economic environment one is under a lot of pressure. Still his response strikes me as a bit extreme.
Things got worse. M turned in her seat to pick up her belongings in order to leave when the guy smacked her upside the head with a rolled-up newspaper. His wife got up out of her chair and moved in as well. Standing by your man is a character trait of this breed.
In the nick of time a security guard arrived. Within seconds backup appeared and everyone from the lab had come out to the waiting room to see what the hubbub was. The security guys separated Mr. Contractor and his frau from M and began the task of sorting the mess out. Not leaving well enough alone Mr. Contractor started in on the security guy.
"I'm an American and this still is a free country. And I have a right to use my cellphone. Jesus I hate having to come into Seattle and put up with this shit."
The security guy informed the constitutional law expert that he could switch off the phone and tone things down right then and there or he could leave the hospital property under escort. He then asked M if she wished to press charges.
Of course the answer to that question was no (rats!). The situation defused, folks settled in with their books and newspapers and the volume decreased dramatically. M went in and had her blood drawn and all seemed once again right with the world.
After, M, having fasted for going on fourteen hours went downstairs to the clinic cafe for coffee and a muffin. Sadly, Mr. Contractor and his wife soon appeared in the near empty cafe. They choose a table immediately next to where M was having her breakfast and seated themselves, Mr. Contractor extracted his mobile from a pocket and punched in a number.
I guess it's her call, but really I wish she had pressed charges. Just so the man had to hire lawyers and disrupt his important day. That's probably the rudest example I've heard of that doesn't concern cars, but it's not all that surprising. Everyone has a fantastic idea of what his 'rights' are and what his importance is. I'm sure he would agree that he has to "take back" America from those PC perverts who frown on hitting women.
ReplyDeleteOf course in Florida, a physical attack on someone my age is a doubly serious felony and probably would justify a .380 hollow point between the eyes - not that I'd have been the one to do it, but one can dream. Attacking a woman? Yes, I might be the one to ventilate his skull for that one.
Sounds like a real idiot to me. What do you want to guess, (1) Compassionate Liberal, (2) Compassionate Conservative, (3) Typical Teabagger?
ReplyDeleteSociopathy -- it's the new normal.
ReplyDeleteWhat you're describing, Arthurstone, is the childish, brutal sensibility of a man who's used to saying and doing whatever he likes, wherever he likes to do or say it, without contradiction. Not a pretty picture.
Darn! Had M pressed charges, we would have had a serialized suspense-filled drama to keep us on the edge of our chairs for weeks … months!
ReplyDeleteThe cast: The guard, the witnesses, the police, the lawyers, and the judge. The evidence: A rolled up newspaper, the offending cell phone, the heavily altered PhotoShop photos of a black eye, broken, nose, stitches (all types), and a vial of blood. The charges, expert testimony, and detective reports. The claims and counter claims, followed by civil lawsuits and accusations of invasions of privacy (be sure to include defamation of character).
Add six degrees of separation and you have more counter-counter claims against the contractor, the cell phone carrier, the medical center, and the newspaper publisher.
Next time, PLEEZE, press charges!
I can't decide if people have become ruder or just more blatant about being rude. Civility seems to be a lost art. Most medical facilities have notices posted asking that you turn off your cell phone. I've been told that it's because of the possibility of its interference with the sensitive equipment contained in the facility. On a recent trip to a radiology clinic, thee was such a notice outside of the MRI lab.
ReplyDeleteA child of pehaps 9 or 10 was in the waiting area with his mother and she offered him her phone so that he could play games while they waited. The child spoke up and said, "Mama, the sign says please turn off all cell phones." Mother replied, "They just mean don't talk on the phone; you can play games on it."
I thought about it for a second and decided to intervene and inform the mother that "turn off your cell phone" meant exactly that. She was clearly not pleased with me and questioned my interpretation. Fortunately she didn't have a newspaper to use to rap me across the head. She did tell me that I was mistaken, but about that time a technician came back to call me in for my MRI and noticed the woman holding her cell phone. Her words were simple, "Ma'am, please turn off your cell phone until you leave the facility."
Hitting someone with a rolled up newspaper is more than rudeness, it's assault and battery and I have feelings about men who hit women that don't border on the irrational, they are irrational. My conscience would not be troubled by returning the violence with usurious interest.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad all that man had in his hands was a rolled up nwewspaper and I do wish she had pressed charges.
ReplyDeleteCraziness abounds!