You are not ignorant. You are just a selfish bitch.

If you read my post below on Xenophobia, you’ll note that I complained about the ability of the person behind the counter at a local establishment to understand what I thought was a simple order.  Note an important aspect to that story:  I gave my full attention to the person taking my order and accepting my payment.

Not the same day, but at the same shop, I witnessed a different encounter.  7:45 am.  Woman walks in, cell phone glued to her ear, yapping away.  Orders her food.  Gets the bag, and hands the woman payment.  As you might imagine, she appears to be paying more attention to the telephone conversation than anything else.  When she takes her change, she starts shoving it in her purse, still yapping away, then suddenly starts complaining in a very loud voice about not getting the proper change.  She proceeds to berate the woman working at the counter, going so far as to say “I am not ignorant.”

A couple of observations about this:

1.  First off, just in general, what could be so almighty important that you have to be yapping on the phone about it at 7:45 in the morning?  She was not talking about anything work related, or any kind of medical emergency, from what little I could overhear.  She was carrying on about so-and-so said this and I-can’t-believe-she-went-out-with-him that.  Is that conversation really critical at that time of day?  Especially if one assumes, as I did, that it started in the car while driving and would be continued in the car while driving?

2.  If you behave in that manner, you might not be ignorant, but clearly your mama didn’t raise you right.  Because you are rude and selfish.  No, don’t argue with me - you just are.  If you can’t be bothered to put down the phone and communicate with another person like a civilized human being, you’re rude.  And selfish.  Period.  End of story.  Hang up the phone.

3.  Finally, if you don’t put down the phone and pay attention to what you’re doing with the person in front of you, don’t cop some entitled attitude and claim you aren’t ignorant.  Because you are.  Yes, you are.  You’re ignorant of the transaction you just conducted because you are not paying attention.   Your attitude gives that away.  No one gets in such a huff about a possible honest mistake when they are paying attention.  Have the common courtesy to not berate the woman who gives you change when a) you’re not paying attention to what’s going on and b) you think less of her because she’s a different ethnicity than you, probably a recent immigrant, and working behind the counter.  And while I don’t have any specific evidence to back that latter assertion up, I’d be willing to bet my meager life savings on it, because I’m that sure that is what was going through your head while you yapped away.

So, as I said:  You are not ignorant.  You are just a selfish bitch.