Shaunna Cullen – Special to The Southern News –
The last stop on my errand list on Friday was the Comcast center, and it was the last place I wanted to be.
My mission was simple: I needed a wireless router. A woman came up on my left side and asked the man in front of me if it was okay if she asked a teller a quick question. The man agreed. There were about 25 people in line behind me who were not happy about this request, including myself.
The man in front of me moved up to the teller, and it was my turn next. The woman came back to the front of the line after having no luck with the kiosk. She came up to me and asked, “Would you mind if I just paid my bill really quick? I have to pick up my son from school in 15 minutes.”
I thought to myself, I’ve been standing in this line for a good portion of an hour. Other people waited in line to pay their bills, why does this woman think she can step in front of 25 people to pay hers?
“I’m sorry miss but I’ve been here for over half an hour and I too only have a quick question to ask. Sorry,” I said.
By the expression on her face, I could tell she didn’t like that answer. She then asked the lady behind me if she could pay before her.
“Well gee,” the lady said, “you know a lot of people had to pay their bill and they waited in line.”
The woman was still not happy with this answer. When I was called up to the teller, she literally jumped right in front of me.
What I’m worried about are people like this woman who think that they are so important that they can cut a long line of people. Where have manners gone? I would like to know why this woman thought her problems were so special that she needed to cut everyone in line.
Manners have been declining for a while now. I work in food service and constantly have people coming up to the counter having a personal conversation on their phone while trying to order. If your conversation is so important that you can’t get off the phone for three minutes to order some food, you need to finish your conversation first.
My roommate, who works at a retail store, recently came across a customer who was also oh-so-very important. It was a very busy Saturday and the store was offering a few promotions, she told me. She was ringing a woman out and the woman told her, “Could you ring faster?”
The moral of the story is, mind your manners. It’s not okay to treat other people like they are less than you because you didn’t plan ahead, or because your hands are glued to your phone.
