Took the children to the zoo this weekend to attend “Boo at the Zoo”. This is a great day to attend, as not only do the children get to dress up in their costumes, the zoo has sponsors that set up “treat stations” where they give out free candy to the kids and information about their services to the adults. So as you are looking at the new Polar Bear exhibit (which was awesome by the way) you can be snacking on tootsie rolls, or milky ways.
The day was lovely. A nice 65-70 degrees, depending on where the sun was, and the animals were all out and lively. The day wasn’t all that crowded and we were able to see the animals instead of being rushed right by them. The grizzlies and the wolves were a treat to see, as they weren’t just lying down. They were prowling around to the ohs and ahs of the masses. It really was a wonderful day.
Then you had the treat stations. These aren’t small stations by the way. They consist of a big tables decorated by the sponsors and then there seemed to be 2-4 sponsors manning the tables. There is a line for each one. There just is. I can’t tell you how many times I watched people get in front of the line, swipe the candy and dash off. You couldn’t wait in the line like everyone else? You had to “ditch” little children for a piece of mini candy? Yeesh. Then you have the ones that put their small children in the line to wait by themselves, and then they go off to look at the animals. No further comment on that one, except to say, that I found myself keeping an eye out for these children just in case they had a problem. I don’t know why. I’m a sap, I guess. Finally, my worst complaint? The crowding up behind my children and me. Seriously, this makes me nutty. Let me just say, the more you crawl up my butt, the less likely I am to move forward. Really. Do people not realize that breathing down my neck is not going to get them to the candy any faster? I expect it from the children. The whole point is for the children after all. I don’t expect it from the adults. Personal space people!
What does this have to do about writing? Not one thing. I am just sharing a thought that has been on my mind lately. What is with the loss of manners and polite society? I miss the days of “thank-you” and “please”. It just seems like the world has changed to a get-what-you-can-before-someone-else-does mentality. It’s really sad actually.
I know exactly what you mean. If I wait on someone at the bowling alley snack bar, I make sure they say "thank you." I continue to say, "you're welcome!" until they do. I do it to young people all the time, but it makes me crazy when I have to do it to an adult. What is up with that?
ReplyDeleteWell I think part of the problem these days is technology is doing away with any customer service anymore. All you get are recordings. So people dont know how to be courteous or nice anymore! All they know how to do is wait and push a button. So when they are in the real world and faced with being polite...they are sick of waiting and think they can push the people button and get what they want!
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%! What really gripes me is when I say "thank you" and get a "no problem" in return. Where in the world did that come from as a response to Thank you? As for people crowding, I'm like that on the freeway...you ride my tail, I'm going to slow down to a crawl until you get disgusted and go around!
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