i have always had a little bit of trouble understanding what people felt that they were entitled to. when someone walks into a place of business with a holier than thou type of mindset and starts barking like they own the damn place. now, i am totally appreciative of the fact that when someone walks into an establishment, they expect a certain level of urgency to their needs (lets be honest, unless its a hospital, its more along the lines of “wants”) and the courtesy with which those desires are met.
i am currently sitting at a popular NoDa coffee shop. when i walked in there were two women standing at the counter, a man sitting in a chair reading the paper, and a woman on her laptop. NOT a busy scene in the least. but the two ladies at the counter were trying to bust up a bulky frappe order.
“i want two of the strawberry and peach, one just strawberry, one schnozzberry, blah blah blah, and i would like these two in the larger size, but busted into to smaller cups.” nevermind the fact that that kind of demand automatically irritates the piss out of me. its basically saying that i realize one large split into two smaller cups is cheaper and i need you to cater to me being a cheap prick as i jump at the whim of my more than likely already spoiled brat kids.
she also adds that nice little caveat of “still the same owner? she is such a great woman.” this is another one of those snotty moves. like because you know the owner everyone in the joint needs to jump at your say so. that is fantastic for you. this is a small neighborhood. we ALL know each other. and the fact that you don’t know if they still own the place must make you not only a regular customer but also such great friends with said owner that you are up on the ins and outs of their daily lives. bitch.
now, following her placing the order, i placed my order for a tasty little mocha. and the woman on her laptop when ahead and ordered as well. let us keep in mind that there is only ONE employee in the joint. and she starts working feverishly on all the orders that have just been placed, giving priority to what she deems are obviously the easiest ones to knock out first.
i walk up and get my mocha and after sitting back at the helm of my laptop, i see that the blonde that was breaking up the order is a touch perturbed. whatever…
she starts to get her order and the many comes that it has now been split into per her request. somewhere in there she brings up the fact that she is unhappy with the length of time that took to get her elaborate order filled and would like to leave either a note or get the number of the owner in regards to her displeasure, because (get this) she has had her kids waiting in the car unsupervised the whole time.
wow. not only are you a stellar and considerate member of society, but you are also vying for a mother of the year award by undoubtedly leaving your children in a running car in the parking lot more than likely watching different spongebob squarepants on their own dvd screens on the headrests of the tacky gas guzzling SUV that your poor husband bought you because it is a tank you are a bitchy horrible driver.
in the smoothest move of this whole exchange, the young lady does not take out pen and paper to allow this bitch to inform to her boss, but she dials the phone and says you are more than welcome to talk to her. AWESOME. the lady takes the phone and asks to be reminded what the owner’s name is. again, i bet they giggle over the christmas cards that they send each other with little inside jokes, they are such close friends.
the lady goes to the back and out of earshot where she talks for a couple of minutes. reminder: her put out children who are now enjoying their half sized frappes are still waiting. after hanging up, she leaves her name and number with the barrista and then thanks her for splitting up the order because that also must have added some time to her wait time.
my question in all of this is: at what point in someone’s life do they learn to have the audacity to be such an absolute prick? is this something that was engrained in this lady at an early age when she asked for a pony and her daddy bought it for her? does she understand that she is more than likely passing the entitled torch to her children? patience, bitch. patience. its going to be an extremely rude awakening when the gravitational pull of the world that no doubt revolves around you comes to a screeching halt…