Move It

I was going to post a tutorial on Valentine boats, but my computer went insane...so you get this...

I've noticed that everywhere I go, I feel rushed. At the drive-thru at Dunkin Donuts before I turn the corner to pull up to the window, an arm is sticking out holding my coffee. I like fast service, but they have on more than one occasion not looked, and dropped my coffee on the ground, splashing it all over my car. When I pay in a store, I feel I'm not allowed to put my change back in my wallet or write in the debit amount in my checkbook because I am holding up the line. So, I end up shoving change and receipts into my purse, which is an official disaster area. One day when my Dad was walking to his office from the train, a woman came up behind him and growled, "move it!" We laughed for years over the move it lady.

Is this rushing a local phenomenon, or is it my own perception and I am rushing myself? Every year they come out with a list of the fastest paced cities, and Chicago is always in the top group. We drive fast here, school buses will pass you on the highway at 80 mph. Last year they debated ticketing people who drive the speed limit in the left lane because they are disrupting the flow of traffic. I know it can be dangerous to have a driver traveling at 70 come up on someone doing 55, but why are we in such a hurry? If I take 2 minutes to put change into my wallet, will civilization collapse? I'm going to try a little experiment this week and put my bags in the cart and my receipts away without rushing an see what happens. If you are behind me in line, please be patient. Not feeling rushed will be good for us all.

Comments

[Sarah]

sigh. It feels pretty much the same here. I especially love those folks who honk at me for actually STOPPING at a stop sign. Heaven forbid we stop there!

[Tracy]

yep, I feel that way too, in line at the grocery store, and everywhere. It's not just you.

I've been really irritated lately at the sheer number of people who run red lights and stop signs. jeez.

[Crystal]

Same here. I have thought the same thing about the grocery line rush. Please, people! I have to adjust the kid and put my crap in my purse. Give me two seconds already. What the heck is everybody rushing too?

[Lisa]

So true. We should probably all dilly-dally more; it would be good for us. (By the way, it cracked me up that your grouping for this post is "I like to complain"! I do too.)

[Amy]

I was thinking about this just yesterday when I dropped my DD off at preschool. There is a main road that goes there, and then there is a side street with a couple stop signs. Every time going there and picking up ther is a preshool mom shooting down the side street to beat me there. And every time I think, come on, I'm not even going slow! Thanks for letting me unload that!

[Janet Rhoads]

You are not alone in this. For years and years it has bothered me and so I started moving slower. Yes, people do get irked but I usually just smile at them and say..."Thanks for your patience, I'll be just a second." I refuse to succumb to that rushed feeling because it pisses me off so much. Like when people in the grocery store are practically pushing their cart into your back? I bump into it on purpose and say "Oh, excuse me...gosh they make these lanes so narrow don't they?" with a combination of sweetness and "teacher voice". :) If I am too cranky to summon up the niceties, then I still move slow and glare at them. lol I think the problem is that a lot of people feel entitled. Their time has been stolen from them because of how society has developed (work, school, traffic, overcommitments, too many extracurricular things for the kids, suburban sprawl, etc.). That sense of entitlement ("My time is important dammit!") has resulted in tremendous rudeness and an inability to comprehend that everyone's time is precious. I think we all just need to slow down and breathe a little. I could go on all day, lol...I will stop there. Complainers Unite! XO

[Tilly]

It's just the same over here too. Everyone is in such a rush. I often see people jumping red lights when I drive Nipper to nursery. And the supermarket checkout is a nightmare!

[Laura]

I leave the grocery store in such a panic every time, it's no wonder I have to go back there every damn day. I have a toddler commanding me, someone jabbing me with their grocery cart/hitting me with their purse/mowing me down with their mobility scooter, plus awful lighting and terrible music blaring overhead which confuses my frayed synapses. When I finally get to check out, and hand over 150.00, I have to move it, and hurry and stuff everything in my purse, which I should send you a picture of, and hope that my license/debit card is there. Then I have to run to the car, throw the kid in,and stuff the groceries in, get in, and speed out without my seat belt on before the person who is waiting for my spot honks at me. I hate the honking, don't get me started on honking. In Hawaii, it is understood that you do not honk your horn unless you are in a wedding procession. It is just rude.
Time to move? We could be closer to Desmond...

[Visty]

Oooh, the other day I about lost my shit at the Post Office lady. I was in line with Ellery, just turned 2. She called, "NEXT!" and we started walking. It is a tiny P.O., and her counter is about 10 feet away. She yells with more insistence, "NEXT!! Over here!!"

I said, "The baby is walking as fast as she can." Just to make her feel like a total ass in front of all those people.

[e-goose]

Boy, do I hear you on the putting your change away. I always feel like I'm such a BOTHER if I make anyone else wait for even a moment.

Once, while about 6 months pregnant, I was walking down the stairs after the bus dropped us off at the subway station, and this woman did the same thing as your move-it woman. "Move it," she growled. My husband was with me and just went nuts. I've seen her since, and she is apparently like that with everyone. But to a pregnant lady walking at normal speed anyway?! Crazy.