How Asinine Are You?

Terri King


The people being referenced in this book are not lacking in I.Q. so much as they are lacking in common courtesy and overall manners. I believe this behavior is due largely to the lack of time in people's lives. We live in an era where we are rushing through life. We start our day gulping down an instant breakfast, yell at the kids to hurry, get dressed, and rush off to work and school.

We rush through our day, trying to get done everything we failed to accomplish yesterday, only to tackle today's assignments. As we rush to get home, we get stuck in rush hour traffic. Usually we pick up fast food along the way, or zap something in the micro- wave. If there is no conference, game, practice, meeting, appointment or errand to run, we have two or three hours
before bedtime.

Mostly we use this time for washing: clothes, kids, dishes, dogs or cars. The day we make a call for a quick chat to someone, we have to hurry our conversation, for someone is on the other line. This fast pace lifestyle is not just for those raising a family. Single people are rushing through life just as fast. Rushing to get ahead in their career before they reach that devastating age of thirty. Rushing to meet new people everywhere, even in cyberspace. Rushing to
make their fortune so they do not end up in the same rut their parents are in.
They carry cell phones so they can be reached at all times.

Children are in such a hurry to grow up nowadays. In eighth grade, we did not dare wear make-up, let alone date. Our bedtime was 9:00 p.m. When my son was in eighth grade, the girls in his class had been wearing make-up for a few years. One of his classmates was allowed to stay out past 10:00 p.m. His mother trusted him. Some parents encouraged dating. They thought it cute. Some people can not wait to have children then they can not wait for them to
grow up!

Patience is wearing thin everywhere you look, and everybody is an asshole. People do not know how to drive. People do not know how to shop. People do not know how to shut up and mind their own business. Most importantly, people do not know how to behave around other individuals!

People nowadays share way too much information with complete strangers they meet on the street. I have received more information about their lives from customers at my job than I have from guys whom I have dated. I do not know if it is drugs or a simple lack of respect for everything and everybody but people are definitely getting worse. The only fact I am sure of is this once charming girl of sixteen whom everyone at work wanted to clone because they could not believe how sweet she was, has become a little antisocial. Just as my mother, who thrives on human contact, can not comprehend my satisfaction with seclusion, I can not understand why so many people are afraid of the concept of being alone with their own thoughts. Some women have to talk to every person that may cross their path. Then they become angry with people who do not share their need to converse. They do not care about the other person's right to privacy. They believe the other person to be rude. When I find five minutes of tranquility because of being stuck in a line, I hardly think myself rude because the woman next to me can not occupy her mind with her own thoughts. Granted, there are many people who enjoy befriending the person they have
become stuck in time with.

That is great! I say knock yourselves out. Tell each other your life stories. Hey, go out for drinks and bake each other a cake! But for those of us who enjoy our own company, for those of us who do not feel the need to be a people person, and you know who we are, you can take one look at a person and know they do not want to chitchat. For those of us who do not want you in our lives-SHUT UP!

If you make an initial attempt to befriend someone and get no response, take the hint. No response means I do not want to talk to you. Why don't I just tell you that I do not want to talk? Because then we have a conversation going, and you will not shut up! You have to know why I do not want to talk. You want to know if I am having a bad day, and why. You will want to know things that I am not willing to share with you. Why? Because it is NONE OF YOUR
BUSINESS!

I do not need another asshole in my life, putting a strain on my manners and causing me undue stress!

People, it is all right to accept ourselves as our own best friend. We do not have to constantly be looking to others for approval. I believe this is mainly why some people cannot seem to shut up. They have this need for others to agree with them. It justifies their opinions.

I could care less about others' thoughts on my opinions. I will spew them forth anyway, which is basically what the next chapters are about. They are my opinions about the actions of people. These actions are what separate the people with basic manners from the people who are simply assholes.