noisy, feeling entitled, and..

"When we replace a sense of service and gratitude with a sense of entitlement and expectation, we quickly see the demise of our relationships, society, and economy."
 -- Steve Maraboli

the setting before was at the park, this time: in an airplane bound for manila from puerto princesa, boarding time 😉 june 10, 2018. 

view from my window seat
before our plane made it to the runway for take-off

when i reached my assigned row, a millenial couple from that country of the people who grabbed my map — but this reference is only useful if you already know the story at the park 🤪 — where was i? 

oh yes, in the airplane! 

a young couple were noisily discussing in their language about who, between the two of them, should take the still empty window seat along their row. i don’t speak their language but i figured out what it was all about because they were taking turns pointing to the window seat, their faces exhibiting eagerness to takeover but with hesitation upon reviewing & seeing the indisputable seating assignment registered on their boarding passes. 

play good music, that’s my cue! 

i politely interrupted their discussion by saying, “excuse me, i need to get there,” and using my hand to gesture towards the ‘hot’ seat of their conversation 😏. they had no choice but to stop their discussion. my presence meant they had to abort their takeover-the-window-seat plot. 🤣 they realized, too, that they had to stand and leave their middle & aisle seats temporarily so i can reach my seat. 

i saw the look on their faces when they realized that the window seat, which both of them wanted to take, was going to be occupied 😜. i’m glad that despite their disappointment, both of them stood up to make way for me and neither made an attempt to negotiate for 24F, the seat — i wasn’t inclined to give way to them anyway. 😅 i only give up coveted seats to impressionable kids, senior citizens, or PWDs, or in the interest of safety — NONE OF THESE apply to them nor the situation. 

they’re just noisy, feeling entitled, and undeserving.

note: i completed writing this while they were talking so noisily 🤯 beside me, while the rest of the passengers around us were just silent, the plane was going through turbulence, and the cabin crew and the captain took turns using the public address system to make important announcements. i could hardly hear what the captain said over the two inconsiderates’ irrelevantly loud conversation, which even got louder as the captain made further announcements 🤨.

map

"Inagaw nga namin (mga) isla n’yo, mapa pa kaya!"
 -- contributed by one of my friends

🙈🙉🙊

at some point in ashikaga flower park, i was preoccupied with trying to take selfies under the trellis of the double-flowered wisteria when two females approached and called my attention. with my left hand, i was holding the pamphlet-slash-park map, which was given to me by the personnel at the park entrance. held by my right hand was the selfie stick with my camphone. i had to stop what i was doing to properly acknowledge the presence of the two but even before i could complete a cordial greeting, one of them grabbed the folded-and-rolled pamphlet from my left hand! 😱 no words, no non-verbal plea, nothing but unpermitted taking of MY park map. 😱 i knew right away that they’re NOT japanese at all! despite my indignation 😠, i stood there trying so hard to maintain a tolerant facade 😳. as if they did not do anything socially unacceptable, the two started talking to each other while turning the paper over and over again, completely ignoring my presence 🤨. 

MY map of the ashikaga flower park

based on their interaction, the two of them got lost in the park 🧐 (note: ashikaga flower park covers a large area but it is not that large for two non-stupid adults to get lost in — there are signages and arrows. plus, park guests are given maps at the entrance.) 🤔 while they were carrying on with their conversation, it was obvious to me that they did not know where to go because they could not even figure out where we were despite the user-friendliness of the park map. 🤦🏻‍♀️ 

my first attempts at interrupting their conversation with an “excuse me” did not work but when they finally acknowledged that i was still around 😲, i told them “you are here” as i pointed our location on the map. then, they started resuming their discussion — as if i wasn’t there 🤷🏻‍♀️, as if i did not say anything helpful — while turning the paper once again 😵 and then back to the page with the park map before looking at me and telling me in a commanding tone, “how to get here?” 😱🤯

“from here, how to get here? (pointing at the park’s entrance on the map)” 😮👀 all along, they were figuring out how to go back to the park’s main entrance! (another note: the park map was drawn in such a self-explanatory way and the park pathways are easy to follow.) i told them to just follow the path. 

“how?” 

i pointed to the oh-so-visible path closest to us. they also asked where the park’s main entrance was 🤦🏻‍♀️. how could two people perusing a very-easy-to-understand map not know? 🧐 although i was tempted to lead them to the opposite direction because of their rudeness, i still pointed the correct direction. i got a thank you. i held out my hand to receive back MY map. the two of them hesitated and looked at me — maybe because they wanted to me to go with them to the entrance so they won’t get lost, maybe because they wanted to walk away with my map, or maybe because they didn’t trust what i told them; but whether it’s one or two or all of those reasons, i wasn’t inclined to go out of my way anymore to be of further help to them. it’s more than too much that i already still helped them even though they were rude, unapologetic, and dense.

note: this happened to me on april 20, 2018 and i got really pissed off that's why it took time for me to write about this. ang naka-quote ay clue sa kanilang bansang pinanggalingan. walang duda na doon sila galing; pati ugali sablay na sablay sa kalidad kahit nasa bansang hindi naman kanila. 

🙈🙉🙊