DavezMental’s Blog

…some common decency…..

Yo….I’m pissed….there aren’t too many things that get to me…I mean, I could take “mom” jokes, I could take the “short” jokes (I’m 5′8 on a good day), I could take the “Jersey” jokes, I could take the “Philly sports teams don’t win championships” jokes, I could take the “you’re broke” jokes….I have no problem laughing at myself!! But one thing I can’t take is rude, ignorant, self-serving people…..

I was gonna write this blog last week, but didn’t feel I had enough material to make it good, then it hit me…the door that is…..well, not quite but almost…..you see, one of my pet peeves and the one of very few things that aggravate me to no end, is the lack of the phrase, “thank you.” Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not nice to people so I get recognition or “thank you’s,” but at the same time, I expect a thank you. That is the least someone could do for retribution of a kind deed.

Am I the only one that noticed recently, that nobody says that anymore….not when you hold doors for people, not when you let people go in front of you in lines, not when you let people go when you are driving, not when you hand someone something, not when you pick something up for someone after they drop that something…..NEVER!!

It’s almost as if people expect you to kneel down and yield to them, they expect you to break your back, waste your time, and put your life on hold for them….Are Americans (and foreigners, cuz there are alot of them around lately), that self-centered these days?? And if so, what’s the blame?? I know cell phones take some of the blame….people can’t walk, drive or even work out without talking on the phone…..and not many people could multi-task when talking on their phone…It’s very odd that you get a thank you or even a nod from people when you be courteous while they are on the phone….Personally, I can’t chat (IM) or talk at the same time, but I do always say “Thanks” or give a head nod when necessary. When I actually do talk on the phone in public….because God knows, I am not that dude walking around like I’m Mr. Importance blabbing on my phone so everyone knows that I am on the phone….ya dig??

When I was younger, I used to really get at people for a lack of decency. If people didn’t say “thanks” to one of the previously mentioned scenarios, I would give them an unsolicited “you’re welcome.” Sometimes, people felt bad and would say, “oh thanks” and possibly apologize, some would give me dirty looks like i’m the asshole, and others just had no clue and kept it moving……As I got older, I turned into this care-free dude that stopped doing that because, well, it just wasn’t that serious to me…..I used to look at it like, well, i’m glad i’m not that person (who has no sense of respect for others)…I stopped sweating the small things in life…then all of a sudden, the last few months, I noticed that no one says “thanks” anymore….and I mean no one…not even cute little innocent old ladies…..and I am pretty much convinced that it is going to turn me back to the old me….the “you’re welcome” guy, or the guy that if he didn’t get a thank you for holding the first set of doors, will let the next set of doors slam into your face….you know those doors, the ones in the malls…the double doors….I used to love doing that…..I wonder if people ever got the point……in any event, people thinking they are owed the world really pisses me off….

Anyways, back to why i’m so mad today….I was entering my building (I live in a high rise apartment building), and there are two sets of doors you must go through to enter the building, with the second one being locked (you need some kind of magnetic key for it to buzz you in)….well, I saw this lady, I would say in her mid-30’s walking toward my building….there was no guarantee that she was going to try to enter, but I gambled and decided to be a gentlemen and wait for her and hold the door (something I really didn’t have to do)…..as always when I hold the door for someone I wait to see if I get a thank you…..remarkably, I did….I usually try to predict as to whether I get a thank you or not from people (yes, I am a weirdo), and I didn’t think I would get one from her…..so, anyways, I get the thank you…..and as I enter the door this chick let’s the door that you have to buzz open slam shut….i’m like, alright….no big deal…..but then as I enter through the doors after the security guard lets me in…I dropped my keys, this chick is waiting for the elevator…and believe me, she sees me coming towards her….the elevator comes with me no more than 20 feet away from it, and the bitch let’s that shut on me…..I’m thinking to myself, no way is she not gonna push the “door open” button, you know the one with the triangles facing away from each other…..well, she didn’t, and after I realize it, I give her a “damn yo, that’s fucked up.” I was pissed….and unless i’m watching the eagles lose, I don’t curse in public, especially at someone as directly as that….and I would never dare to say the F word at someone….and for a split second, I felt bad for dropping the f’ bomb like that….but then again, I meant it…that was messed up……so, F her!

But how could someone like me expect decency from my fellow Americans, when there are assholes in the public eye doing the opposite everyday!! Just Tuesday, I saw in the news that for like the fifth time a 9/11 Memorial was vandalized in I believe Middletown, NJ (the hardest hit town in regards to loses of lives after New York City on Septemeber 11th)….What is wrong with people…why anyone could be so heartless to vandalize a memorial of any nature is besides me, but a 9/11 one in Middletown, NJ….that is like one of the last ones I would think would get it….God forbid if I saw someone doing something like that to a memorial…..the police think that kids or young adults did it….

Then of course, you have the people these kids look up to setting good examples….you know T.I. the millionaire rapper buying silencers and guns-not the brightest southern boy, Mike Tyson, the ex-heavyweight champion of the world-wearing pink underwear in Jail for drug possession, Barry Bonds, baseball’s homerun king, being found guilty for perjury and taking steriods (from a test that is 7 years old…but that is another story for another time), and of course the dog killer, Mike Vick beginning his jail sentence on Monday…..anyways….

Happy Thanksgiving!!