Man From Another Time

"A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle."- Unknown

I have begun to realize that I do not belong in this decade. At times I have serious doubts that I even belong in this century. People these days behave as if they are the center of the universe, and the rest of us were put here as an afterthought. Selfishness is an epidemic. Automobile drivers will almost run over you on the way to work, just so they can stop off at Starbucks first and pay $4 to $5 for a frozen coffee. Road rage is a constant, daily possibility. People are robbed at gunpoint while they stop off at the local 7-11 for a cheese danish, because some crackhead junkie needs money but can't or won't keep a job. Pedophiles kidnap 6 year old girls and use them like Kleenex, because they're weaker, and because they can. Both teens and adults stroll around the mall with cell phones attached to their ears, as if that conversation is much more interesting or important than the one they could be having with a person who is actually in front of them. They also drive while chatting on them, and I've even seen people standing in the check-out lines, holding up the customers behind them, because whatever is going on at the other end of that device is a hundred times more important. Selfishness. "Who cares what the guy in line behind me thinks? Who cares if I cut you off in traffic, or if I am tailgating you so close at 70 mph I can see the whites of your terrified eyes in your own rear-view mirror? What's the harm if you've been standing in line for 15 minutes with a shopping cart full and I cut in line in front of you with only one or two items? You understand, right? I have a meeting to go to. I have a child who has to get to soccer practice so he or she can be seen with the other important people's kids. I have things to do. I am a mover and a shaker. I am climbing the corporate ladder. I make more money than you. I am smarter than you. "

"I am more important than you."

No, I don't belong in this time. I sometimes think I belong in a time when people were nice to each other. When you didnt' have to worry about using some word or phrase in conversation that might offend some group, who would then publicly protest with picket signs and demand an apology. I belong in a time when you could leave your doors unlocked, or even wide open, when you could let your kids walk down the street to the local library without worrying yourself into an ulcer that Chester the Neighborhood Child Molester would take little Johnny or Mary for a drive and you might not see them alive again. I belong in a time when people actually cared what their neighbor thought, and kept their private lives private, and would sooner be skinned alive than let some stranger hear their highly personal phone conversation in public. I belong in a time when people weren't always in such a hurry to get to this place or that, and they actually took the time to slow down and smell the roses. I belong in a time when mothers would never allow their teenage, or even pre-teen daughters leave the house dressed like a woman from the red-light district. I belong in a time when men looked like MEN, not teenage girls, and they actually dressed for work, and tucked their shirts INSIDE their pants and buttoned the sleeves. I belong in a time when people really cared about each other.

I am certainly not saying that I've never been selfish. I have, and I'm not proud of it. But I am self-aware of my mistakes, enough to keep working at them so I don't repeat them over and over. I am aware there are 6 billion other people on the planet who don't always share my beliefs and thoughts. That's okay. I get that. What I don't get is why everyday I see more and more people who act like spoiled rotten children, who pitch a "hissy fit" if they don't get their way, and make a public scene, or threaten to sue or pull out the old standby card: "Do you KNOW who I AM?"

Well, no sir, no ma'am, I don't. I guess I should know. You're obviously a very important person. But I DO know WHAT you are.

I just didnt know you could talk. I thought your type always brayed.