Okay, I've behaved for way too long and I'm about to explode!!! Stand back!!! Beware!! Soap box out and ready. Children occupied. Let the rant begin!en-ti-tled (en-tye-tuhl-d)
verb- to be given a right or privilege
(I am entitled to this rant.)This is the definition from Cullen's Scholastic Children's Dictionary (well, except for the example sentence). Hmmm... Such a simple word. Easy to pronounce. Not hard to spell. Very useful.
Then why is it this word makes me so stinking angry?! To be fair, I can't really blame the actual word. I blame the selfish, rude, self-righteous, me-first, all-important, I-am-entitled-to-whatever-I-want jerks of this world! Oh! Did I say that out-loud? Damn right I did!
(deep breathe, regaining my calm now, going to my happy place)I bet you are wondering what's gotten me all wound-up. It didn't happen suddenly. It wasn't one particular event or person. It has been slowly and steadily building up and eating at me.
I am so sick and tired (sidenote: why does "tired" always follow "sick"?) of people who feel they are entitled to things. Do you want examples? Of course you do!!! Here we go:
Let's start with someone my family knows
very well. We will call her "D". D thinks that the world owes her. She thinks that her children owe her. She thinks that her extended family owes her. She is ENTITLED to possessions that are not wholy hers because she deserves them more than anyone else. She has lied to obtain these things, but it doesn't bother her. Why? Because she is ENTITLED to them in her mind. My son has a wonderfully apt nickname for her, but I will not say it here. If I did, you would definately know who "D" is!! I refuse to write about her because my children may someday read this blog. (Some of you will be able to guess who I am referring too!) Let's just say that her ENTITLED behavior is driving a giant rift down the center of the family. The sad thing is, she doesn't see anything she is doing as wrong! Talking to her is like teaching pigs to fly!
Moving on to others. Cullen goes to a wonderful Christian school. I pick him up every afternoon so he doesn't have to take three busses home (yes, you read that right). The procedure for pick up is simple: you drive into the lot, follow around the perimeter, and wait patiently until it's your turn to pull up at the overhang so your child can safely get in. You need to pull up when other cars move, even if this means your child has to walk an additional 10 feet. You are not to leave your car. There is no cutting in line. There is a single pick-up line. The space in the aisle between those picking up and the parking spaces is for traffic to pass thru. Can you see where this is headed?!
The other day, I was waiting in line for Cullen. As I was sitting there, a woman cuts thru the lot and tries to wedge her way into line between me and another car. She decided that she was ENTITLED to cut in line because she couldn't be bothered with waiting her turn. Needless to say, I inched my car up so close to the guy in front of me that I felt like I was driving in Beijing! The rude woman glared at me (Yeah! I guess I missed that memo about her being ENTITLED to cuts.) and sat there waiting for me to let her in. NO WAY!!! I had to snicker as everyone around me closed ranks and she had to go ALL THE WAY AROUND the lot and got stuck at the back of the line. If she would've taken her proper place earlier, she would've only been 4 cars behind me, not 15!
Another day I watched as a car cut thru the lot. I thought maybe it was someone leaving because they went around the line like they were headed for the exit. Boy was I wrong!! This driver felt ENTITLED to form a second pick-up line in front of the overhang. Why should they be bothered with waiting their turn? So they parked in the flow-thru traffic lane. Now no one could leave. A few minutes later, a kid came out of the crowd, hopped in the waiting car, and off they went. Boy I wish I was ENTITLED to form a second line! BTW, I have seen this person do this every week!!!
My favorites are the ones who are ENTITLED to park their cars in the pick-up line and walk into the school to pick-up their child. They of course are ENTITLED to stop and visit with all their friends and the staff as the rest of us are stuck behind their parked cars. Going around the parked cars is not always easy because more ENTITLED people come from THE BACK of the line and pull into the open spaces so they can get their kids first!
And finally on the school front are the ones who refuse to pull up to the end of the overhang because their kids are ENTITLED to be picked up as close to the door as possible! Heaven forbid if your child has to walk an additional 10-20 feet under an overhang!!! The rest of the line-up must remember those people are ENTITLED to make us and our children wait and the line grow longer. For those of us not lucky enough to be ENTITLED, we must remember we are Christians and we teach our children by example. Getting out of the flipping car and bitch-slapping someone's parent is not something we are ENTITLED to do. NO MATTER GOOD IT WOULD MAKE US FEEL!!!!
Let's move on to other areas. There have been many times when I am stuggling to open doors for Kieren's stroller when some nice person will rush up to us... and wedge their way between us and the door so they can get in ahead of us! These are usually the same ENTITLED people who will let an elevator door close in front of a wheelchair while their ENTITLED non-disabled butt takes the elevator alone to the next floor. I'm sure they are related to the same ENTITLED persons who walk by an elderly woman struggling with an armload of packages, walk through a door and let it shut on her face. I know they belong to the same club as those ENTITLED people who watch your child drop their stuffed animal in a crowded area and then cut in front of you as you go back to retrieve the lost object. I've lost count of the number of times when a clerk has asked "who's next" and the ENTITLED person who just got in line says they are!
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?????And it starts early! Kids are now ENTITLED to what another child has just because they want it! A pre-teen I know thinks he's ENTITLED to order the most expensive item on the menu at a restaurant just because it is the MOST EXPENSIVE ITEM, not because that's what he truly wants to eat. He is also ENTITLED to order an appetiser, meal, and dessert not because he is that hungry, but because he's ENTITLED to! And another person I know inherited a house because, well we won't go into that reason, but feels she's ENTITLED to every thing in the house too because she's ENTITLED to everything she wants! It doesn't matter if this wasn't her stuff or that of her parents. These things belong to the children of the deceased woman. But she doesn't see it that way! Because these things are in "her" house, she is ENTITLED to everything in that house!! And she wonders where her child is getting this ENTITLED attitude from!!! (Heather, any guesses on who I'm talking about??)
Well, dammit! I am ENTITLED too! I am ENTITLED to rant on this blog. I am ENTITLED to raise my children to be responsible Christian adults. I am ENTITLED to happiness if it doesn't hurt anyone else (sometimes even when it does!). I am ENTITLED to be shown the courtesy and respect I deserve. And I am ENTITLED to stand-up for myself and those I love when needed.
And now I'm going to hop off my soap box, put it away, and go to my bedroom where I'm ENTITLED to half of the bed (yeah, right! someone needs to tell the dog that one!). Once I get my ENTITLED butt comfortable, I will then steal all the covers. Why?
BECAUSE I'M ENTITLED!!!!
Kieren at lunch today.
