cos: (Default)
cos ([personal profile] cos) wrote2009-02-01 03:42 pm
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tell me a story

Tell me a story of something someone said or did that was so outrageously beyond chutzpah, it could only have happened if the person in question had not only a breathtaking sense of entitlement, but also no idea how out of line they were. They didn't just have a lot of nerve - they had no clue they had a lot of nerve, and observers could barely believe it happened.

[identity profile] ellipticcurve.livejournal.com 2009-02-02 04:59 pm (UTC)(link)
My workplace has a shuttle service to and from the airport. (This is not as odd as you might think. We're very near the airport, and a LOT of us are traveling ALL THE TIME.) The shuttle makes only two stops: airport and campus.
So. I was taking the shuttle back from the airport. The only other person aboard the shuttle with me demands to be let off at the corner of whatever and whatever. I find this odd--she's been working here longer than me, and even I know that the shuttle doesn't do that. Driver guy says sorry, no can do.
"Well," says the lady, "I'm sure you can make an EXCEPTION." Just this unbelievably snotty tone of voice.
Driver says no, sorry, insurance won't let him make random stops for people who have mistaken him for a taxi or something. (Actually, he just says that the insurance doesn't let him make unscheduled stops. I filled in the rest in the privacy of my head.)
Lady gets ANGRY. After some invective directed his way, she turns to me and rants about how the service has gone downhill since HER day, blah blah blah, and it's probably because he's MEXICAN and everyone knows they're lazy, etc. (The driver was Hispanic, but spoke great English when I exchanged pleasantries with him earlier. And he was within earshot, of course.)
I am mild-mannered to a fault, but still.
"Dude," I said, forcefully, "He could lose his JOB. What if he lets you off and something happens to you there?"
Lady's face falls, then turns to anger.
"You know what? Why don't you mind your own business?"
I contrive to ignore her for the rest of the trip (not difficult, as it's nearly over). I hand the driver my business card, so he knows he has backup in case the lady decides to file a complaint or something. Guy smiles and says that that kind of behavior isn't uncommon.

I weep for humanity sometimes.