Rude people suck

There are few people I hate more than rude people. Rude people suck.

I witnessed a disgusting display of rudeness at London Drugs the other day. The woman in line ahead of me was being unnecessarily obnoxious toward the girl behind the photo counter.

It wasn't hard to overhear what she was saying since the woman was practically yelling at the poor girl. From what I could tell, the woman was dropping off a bunch of film but didn't seem to understand that she could choose a time to come back and pick her photos up.

The London Drugs girl was trying to explain that the store normally develops photos in under an hour but they were a bit backed up so if the woman picked a time later in the afternoon, they'd be sure to have her photos ready and waiting for her by then.

The woman wasn't following so the girl explained it to her over and over again in a calm, cool and collected manner.

The woman still wasn't getting it and her agitation was increasing. Trying to be helpful, the London Drugs girl asked, "So what time would you like me to put down?"

"I DON'T CARE!" the woman exploded. "JUST PUT A TIME ON IT AND I WON'T COME BEFORE THEN."

"Okay, then, three o'clock," the girl said. "And how many rolls of film are you dropping off?"

To me, this seemed like a reasonable question.

But to Ms. Rude Bitch, this was the stupidest question anyone had ever asked another human being anywhere on the planet.

"I don't know," she said in a voice dripping with irritation. "I HAVE TO COUNT THEM FIRST."

She then hauled her faux-glamorous handbag with rhinestone detailing onto the counter and dumped out 20 rolls of film.

"I want every single negative developed," she demanded. "Every. Single. Negative. I don't want you people deciding for me. I want every single negative developed. Do you understand? Every. Single. Negative."

The girl behind the counter remained unruffled. I, on the other hand, was boiling with rage. My eyes were shooting daggers into the back of the woman's thick skull.

I don't care what kind of shit you're going through, nothing gives you the right to treat another human being that way. I'm not saying people should walk around with big Pollyanna smiles plastered to their faces. That would be idiotic. But there's no reason you can't treat people with a little respect.

What happened to "please" and "thank you?" (Wow. Did I really just write that? I am such an old lady. I like cats, coupons and good manners.)

And while we're on the topic of rudeness, can I just say how irritating it is when people go through the line-up at the grocery store blabbing away on their cell phones without even pausing to acknowledge the cashier?

I've seen this happen so many times. They don't say "hello." They don't say "thank you." They just keep talking away on their cell phones while the cashier bags their groceries and rings up the final total. They even fish out their wallet and pay without a break in the conversation.

If I was a cashier, I wouldn't even start swiping the customer's groceries until they got off the phone. Seriously. I would stand there with my arms folded across my chest, staring them down until they hung up the phone. Perhaps this is why I do not work in customer service.

One more example of rude behaviour that drives me crazy? Celebrities who wear sunglasses during interviews. What the hell is that all about?

If I was a TV journalist sitting down to interview P. Diddy or Bono or pretty much anyone out there, I would ask them to remove their sunglasses first. If you're not willing to make eye contact with me or the audience, I'm not interested in interviewing you. Only assholes wear sunglasses indoors (obviously, blind people or migraine sufferers or people with eye infections are exempt from this generalization).

Rude people suck.