(l)earning respect on the chinatown bus

last friday, after getting out of the thick heat and settling into my seat on the dc-bound chinatown bus on 7th avenue between 41st and 42nd street (right outside of the red lobster), i unfortunately encountered (what they call in the service industry) a bitch. she looked like a latina-caucasian mix with thin light brown hair. she wore light tan clothes and a pair of nike sneakers. and she sat two seats in front of me, across the aisle.

as i boarded the bus, i noticed that she, who i will now refer to as 'bitch', had her legs folded in the window seat beside her. but when the bus began to fill up, i heard her whiny voice over the buzz of midday traffic:

'i boarded this bus at 11:30am and i didn't know you guys [the eastern travel chinatown bus company] were going to pick up more people. i don't want to give up my leg space because i have very cramped legs.' complain, complain, complain, bitch, bitch, bitch.

ok. before i blow my frustrated load all over bitch's complaining face, a few things crossed my mind (directed to her).

1) the bus has always and will always go to the 7th/41st stop. the information is provided online and also on the schedule card that the chinese lady gives out. learn to read.
2) you are not the only with 'cramped legs'; there are 40 other passengers with the same leg space you have. the only difference that sets you apart isn't 'cramped legs' but 'poor attitude' or 'lack of courtesy' so please shut the fuck up and give peace to the rest of the passengers.
3) consumers should realize that in certain situations, the threat 'i will take my business elsewhere' made towards businesses will fall on deaf ears. for instance, when i worked at joe's crab shack, we seldom received that threat. but when we did, the managers countered with 'fuck her--we have plenty of other paying costumers for that to make any difference. it just makes it easier for us because our servers now don't have to deal with that bitch.' honestly, the chinatown bus has enough paying customers to worry about your 'cramped legs' and your grievances.

i told bitch to calm down.

'don't talk to me like that; don't you know to respect your elders?'

i don't know what infuriated me more: her lack of respect for her juniors (diction?) or her playing the 'respect your elders' card. how can she demand my respect under the premise that she is merely older than me? for the five minutes that i have known her, she has not proven herself worthy for my respect. she has not shown respect for the chinatown bus driver, for the passengers sitting near her, for the poor soul who got stuck sitting next to her and her 'cramped legs'. who is she to ask for my respect, period?

i will respect people who deserve and earn my respect, such as people who also show respect. 'respect your elders' is a subset of a larger 'respect people who have not given you a reason to not respect them' mantra (it doesn't make sense for those who choose to adhere to the 'respect your elders' so strictly that they become douche bags to children all over the world). for instance, i will respect people who i do not know, out of common courtesy. until somebody has proven himself to be an asshole, i will treat them with respect.

i will try, at least.

the only way that bitch can redeem herself is if something really bad happened to her prior her boarding the bus, which attributed to her sour mood. like the death of her parents or something. i wish ;).

-andy