"Makes Me Snarky" Monday

Instead of pictures and smiles and fun,

I pose a question today:

What is wrong with people ??????

Working with the public has always had its challenges . . . there are always those high-maintenance, grouchy people to deal with. But it seems like most people have become that way lately: they're cranky, demanding, condescending, and just plain rude ! They make it tough just to survive the day ! Common courtesy is definitely not common anymore, and people just say and do whatever the heck they want, regardless of how it effects those around them. It's the guy at Staples that decides to cut in front of you in line, even though you've clearly been standing there longer . . . and the person in the grocery store with their cart parked across the entire aisle, who's so caught up in their own little world that a polite "Excuse me" gets no response !!

Then there are the people who are blatantly nasty . . . like the patient my new co-worker, J., encountered last week. When this patient checked in for an appointment and mentioned new insurance coverage, my co-worker asked to see her dental card. The patient then tossed her medical and prescription cards at my co-worker. When J. asked about a dental card or information, the patient just got nasty, insisting that these were correct, and not answering the questions J. posed to help determine what coverage the patient actually had . . . she finished her little tirade with a condescending "Do you understand that ?!" We did eventually figure out what she had, and she ended up treating J. with sugary-sweetness at the end of her visit . . . but was that really necessary just because she didn't know her dental coverage and J. was trying to help her ??!?!!! Or, today in the check-out line at the grocery store: I was purchasing 5 jugs of water for the office, and placed only one on the conveyor belt and kept the rest in the cart. When the cashier scanned it, I let her know I had 5 total. She then said in a sing-songy, pre-school sort of voice, "Yeah, I figured that out all by myself !" Was that really necessary ???!?!?! What a snarky thing to say !!!

I know these are just a few examples, and that everyone goes through the same thing . . . but that's just it: it's the norm now. It's rare to encounter people who are actually friendly, polite, and courteous. What happened ???? Is it because everyone is so stressed out that they can't possibly rise above it for a moment or two, long enough to be civil ?!?!? Is it because people are so used to and reliant on technology that they no longer know how to interact properly with actual human beings ?!??! Or is everyone just so caught up in their own little world that they truly cease to notice or care about anyone or anything outside their sphere ?!??!?

I don't know . . . seems a little like "all of the above" to me. It just gets frustrating and downright exhausting dealing with people like that all day long, day in and day out . . . makes it very hard to keep a positive attitude !

So what do you think ??

Any thoughts out there . . . ?!?!?!???