Entitlement

A wait in line at the pharmacy can reveal a lot of things. In fact, that's where the police should park their cars and watch, instead of in the median where they are so likely to get hit. You have your elderly people picking up their medicines, mothers and women getting their regular prescriptions, sick people in for some relief by antibiotic or cough medicine but you can also see the anxious, fidgety drug addict or dealer waiting to get their fix, or a lot of people's fix.

I'm not going to be talking about the druggies today, even though I felt they were worth a mention. What I started out to write about today was entitlement and it's a big problem in America. It may very well be the biggest problem, that all of the little problems are trickling down from. You can see entitlement anywhere you look. It seems that most people think something is owed to them or that they are deserving of anything anyone else has despite their lack of motivation.

A simple first example of entitlement, in my opinion, would be your common thief. He breaks into garages and may take your dirt bike because he wants it and feels that the world should turn on its axis and give it to him. He pretends the world is against him, even though the real reason he doesn't have his own is because he won't work for it. This kind of entitlement will lead them to steal anything you may leave outside that they can get their hands on. They may even be bold enough to then ask to borrow money from you. I've seen these people personally, as I'm sure you have also. Drugs are often involved, but I don't believe in using that as an excuse.

Another great example of entitlement starts out at my husband's shop. I used to work there and you see a lot of interesting people walking down Roane Street sometimes. Most of them are the friendly townspeople or people who work a few blocks up, but you get the occasionally whackjob. I was at work one afternoon, writing away at some repair orders for my husband when suddenly the door flies open and a man comes in and makes himself comfortable. I had never saw him before that day, but I assumed he was a customer, since I haven't met them all and he walked in like he knew the shop. I said hello and asked how he was doing, as he looked pretty rough, and what I got in reply was "Not good. I need a ride to Rockwood." I said, "Okay, well do you have a car you've left with us? Are you a customer?" He replied that he was not and had never been in before so I offered to call him a cab, knowing I wasn't going to take a strange, demanding man all the way to Rockwood, even if gas prices were low! He said, "Well that there's a problem. I ain't got no money. I just left the hospital for a spider bite and I need a ride to Rockwood," yet again glancing back and forth at me and my black Lexus outside as if it was owed to him, or since I had such a flashy ride, it was my debt to pay to have to drive him to Rockwood. Not here, buddy. Rich finally overheard and got the man out.

I witnessed a lot of entitlement as a server. You know when you visit a sit-down restaurant that tipping is part of the deal. It's the way life is, unfortunately. Everyone wants to get the best service and the best food, but when it comes time to tip the server, they fall short. If your server has done a horrible job and was rude, I'm not asking you to waste your hard-earned money, but if they were friendly and brought everything you asked for promptly, you have no excuse not to tip them 15-20%. Don't use the excuse that you can't afford it, because if not, you shouldn't be eating out to begin with. I had so many people with entitlement issues come into my workplace and make my life harder. They won't ask you for ketchup, sauce and a refill all at once, they'll watch you ruin your feet as you do each one separately. They'll shake their glass of ice at you even though you just asked them if they'd like a refill less than 5 minutes ago, to which they declined and asked for a check stating they were done. Apparently, these entitled people think you should be able to read their mind and fulfill their every desire for only $2.50 an hour and without a tip looming on the horizon. If you don't believe in tipping, that's an issue for you to discuss with the corporate offices since the employees you see in restaurants do not make those decisions or have that kind of authority. They are only there to make ends meet. This is something you should be teaching your children, too. I've met more than my fair share of entitled teenagers who think it's funny to put a piece of food in their drink and ask for another, pretending I put it in there. Like I wouldn't notice that a pepperoni fell into a drink. Pepperoni isn't even near the soda machines! I do not appreciate a teenager questioning my intelligence with an idiotic joke.

For my final example, I'm going to return to the first scene of this blog, the pharmacy. I recently had a sinus and eye infection and was lucky enough to have to wait an hour for my prescriptions at our local pharmacy. When I finally received the text that they were ready, I scurried back in line to swiftly pick them up and head home. The line moved pretty quickly until they began to wait on the person in front of me. She was older but fully capable of walking, talking or working, as was her husband and since it was during a work day I assume they were unemployed. They were too young to be retired and what are the odds they both work third shift? They were on some sort of government aided insurance. I'm not really sure of the details, I've never recieved anything from Uncle Sam, I just overheard that it was government paid. I already assumed, shame on me. She was supposed to pay a co-pay and was complaining that she shouldn't have to pay more than $5. It ended up taking the pharmacy a while, but they finally pleased her. I, on the other hand, have no insurance. My family doesn't believe in handouts and even if they did, I wouldn't qualify. Private insurance is difficult to obtain although I will be on my husband's policy soon, but it will leave a hole in our wallet. Apparently, Obamacare helps people with pre-existing conditions out a lot but the average person who has only a few prescriptions and doctor visits a year, it raises it because insurance companies now have to offer unlimited coverage to anyone. So as I paid $77 for some eyedrops, antibiotics and allergy medicine, I couldn't help but resent the person who just walked away with a full month of medicine complaining that they had to pay $5 out of pocket.

The moral of this story is that, as a country, we are too entitled. People think that since the economy is rough that it's an excuse to not try and to lay back and let others do it for you. We pay taxes every month and when we do, I picture the woman from the pharmacy. Her biggest problem that day was a small co-pay. I had an eye and sinus infection and my grandfather was two and a half hours away at a hospital with a life-threatening illness. Everyone wants work done but when we put the time and effort into it and try to return it, we get a bounced check or someone who simply won't answer the phone. Even other corporations try to rip us off, the struggle is real apparently. The new taxes cut my paycheck by $5 and all I've got are jokes about how "it's only $5" but that's a lot coming out of my small check, I'm not a millionaire! When I was a server, a $5 tip was a big deal for me, I worked hard for that. Five more dollars to help the ones who won't help themselves, and that's annoying no matter what political party you are.

I believe, and I'm told, you get what you put into this world and people should get what they deserve. If you work hard I believe you should be rewarded and appreciated, no matter what your line of work. You should be able to profit from your success and buy what you please with it. My husband is a small business owner and I had never saw anyone work so hard before, except my Paps. I saw someone joking on Facebook one day that finding a job was as hard as running a business and I told my husband and we had a good laugh. Let them see the bills we have to pay every month and the tasks we must perform just to keep the doors open and they will get back out on the job search quickly. I'm a housewife now, luckily. I keep a clean home, I cook, basically I take charge of anything that goes on on this property while also trying to care for the family. That is my line of work until further notice. I do wish everyone could have that luxury, but I didn't until I got married. When I met Rich I was working full time and had a second job at night. I'm so thankful to have the life I do. If your family can afford you nice things, that's fabulous, but you shouldn't look to the taxpayer for it or expect special treatment from everyone. I wish everyone nothing but the best and I hope someday the entitlement will be gone and that people will earn their keep, but until then, keep your ears closed at the pharmacy.