I handed my families boarding tickets to the boarding pass checker and we waited for approval to board the plane. Before she could hand the checked passes back to me a woman bypassed the entire line, walked straight to the boarding pass checker in front of us, stuffed a first class ticket in the checkers hand and then without watching where she was going, rammed into my five year old.
I quickly pulled my daughter out of the way. Told her she needed to be careful to look out for people who were in a rush, but shot the rushing First Class sitter a pretty appalled face.
She looked back at us in shock and apologized profusely. Clearly she did not mean to run over my child in her rush, but all the same, I could not get over her sense of entitlement. Almost like she was so accustomed to her First Class treatment that she forgot there were actual people waiting in line and stepping aside so she, who had been running late, could skip to the front of the line without so much as glancing at a child in her path.
We were all getting on the same plane. Her first class seat was not going anywhere. Could it have behooved her to kindly wait for the five year old to move out of the way? Could it have behooved her to kindly wait for the boarding pass checker to hand back our tickets that we had already given her to check?
I started thinking about how obnoxious humans can be with their sense of entitlement. The bride who feels entitled to her perfect day. The mother entitled to a silent room when her baby is napping. The child who feels entitled to..well…everything if you’re a child of mine. The customer entitled to his extra onions when dammit he asked for extra onions.
People are actually working hard to give you what it is you’re entitled to. Mothers are pulling their children out of your way so you can board your precious First Class flight. Family members are clearing their schedules to celebrate your walk down the aisle. Guests are speaking in hushed tones to avoid waking your baby. SOMEONE is slicing extra onions because YOU can’t eat a burger with a normal serving of onions.
And as obnoxious as all this entitlement is? I wonder if it’s necessary. If we didn’t feel entitled to better treatment then what would we settle for? If we didn’t have women to stand up and demand equal rights and entitlement to vote, then where would we be right now?
Perhaps it’s not ALL such a bad thing…perhaps it’s only a bad thing when you’re knocking over my five year old in line because you’re in a hurry to get to your First Class seat. Maybe that’s when we begin to have problems.
And while we’re on the topic of entitlement…this is hilarious:
Kate says
Well I thoroughly understand how offending that would have been. People who sit in first class have only the ability to sit there but don’t have the brains to behave properly or rather the courteousness towards others who are not up to their standards. That lady should be more careful next time.
Am I Sociable?
Do you behave in a likeable and acceptable manner?
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Jessica says
We have become a very entitled society. I am wondering if my children are related to yours because mine feel they are entitled to everything also.
Angie says
My kids are all about the entitlement, too. Key point here: they are both under the age of THREE. Their world revolves around them because that’s how little kids are wired. The expectation is that they will grow out of it. That they’ll GROW UP.
There are certain things worth fighting for, that we SHOULD stand up and demand entitlement to. But it’s an idiot who thinks pushing to the front of a line because they paid more for their plane ticket is one of them.
Mama Kat says
Great points!! Kids don’t start learning to think of others and really appreciate what they have until they are a bit older. I think grown ups sometimes just get into this one track mind that is a little obnoxious.
Gigi says
Don’t get me started on the whole entitlement issue – it’s kind of a sore point with me lately.
There’s a huge difference in between what is right and fair (equal rights, etc) and expecting that the world owes you something just because you are you.
Loved the video!
Mama Kat says
So true! Definitely a difference…one is more in line with common courtesy and respect while the other is standing up for basic human rights.
June Freaking Cleaver says
It’s all about me, me ME!
I loved the video, it was hilarious and oh so true!
When I was a kid (you know, in the Dark Ages), FOUR channels on the TV, black and white only, and you were your own remote control – you had to walk across the room to change the channel and adjust the picture.
Now we whine when we can’t get HD quality on the zillion channnels available – and still, there’s NOTHING GOOD ON!
Angel says
OH I would have done more then shot her a look. Cause ya know I am all redneck and loud like that. I totally hear the entitlement thing, it is everywhere and sad that it has come to such a world where it is remotely even ok to look out only for one’s self and not your neighbor.
Jen says
I deal with this sense of entitlement all the time at work. Patients give me this, I am entitled to nursing care and they are but only when I am good and ready.
Kidding.
Jen says
Now on a serious note, you do have a very good point. We really need to leave this sense of entitlement at home. We all are humans and all are entitled.
MarytheKay says
Oh my word–this is SO TRUE. And the video you linked–just perfect!! I really need to remember this as I go about my day… And a car cuts me off…I can’t turn left quickly enough…I have to wait on the waitress to serve me delicious food :-)…my laptop takes an extra 10 seconds to do something (because its memory is full of MY pictures and files!!!…when I don’t get enough comments on any given post…
Gosh, come to think of it, I’m a spoiled rotten baby! Thanks a lot for reminding me! :-)
Great post! Happy Wednesday!
Mama Kat says
I’m spoiled rotten too. It’s all about perspective.
Jennifer says
I agree with this so much. And I think this also brings up a lot of the other problems we see more of now, the anger and the meanness and the just not being polite or kind anymore. And it affects everything from standing in line at the airport to driving through a parking lot. It is like there is such a lack of empathy now. I think it is very sad.
Cecelia Winesap says
Amen sister! No truer words have ever been spoken!
Kate says
That is one of my favorite videos of all time! I loved it!
You are definitely right, there is a fine line between a good sense of entitlement & the wrong sense of entitlement. I’ve got the good & the bad…I’m human but I work really hard to have an awareness of other people.
Mama Kat says
Me too! I wish I’d made that video myself. :)
kt moxie says
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for this clip! It made my day.
angie says
You mean we don’t deserve everything we desire? Hum. I’d better re-wire my kids.
Kelly says
It is absolutely ridiculous. People really think that the world owes them something… No one wants to have to work for anything or go out of their way to admit that other people exist and deserve a little respect…
LOVE that video – it always cracks me up!
Merrie says
This touches on something I’ve been thinking about during all the disaster in Japan. I have yet to read about anyone there looting or robbing or doing anything awful to businesses or other people amidst all the mess. They’re helping one another, and being civil, and often appear to be very calm. What sickens me is that it would be the polar opposite here if/WHEN we have a large earthquake. There will be some goodness, but we’ll see plenty of bad people doing bad things, and why? Is it entitlement, I wonder? This disappoints me greatly.
Mama Kat says
Good point! I wonder if that’s due to the country or the fact that there’s just nothing to steal in Japan. That Tsunmai has completely wiped out those cities. Though I’ll agree Americans definitely seem to exhibit this behavior more frequently.
Jenn @ South of Sheridan says
I think we all sometimes feel like we’re entitled . . . that way we don’t feel invisible. When you’re in the spotlight or have final say, you have control – if only momentarily. Not that it negates almost running into a small child, though. I’m glad she stopped and sincerely apologized.
Mama Kat says
Absolutely! I’m definitely guilty of this too. I could tell she felt awful, she was seriously just in lala land and probably happy to bypass the entire line…not even thinking about it.
Jennifer says
Nothing drove me crazier than getting “shushed” over and over if I barely spoke a word in my brother’s house while his son was napping. It was unbearable to be there. If you’re going to have me over, can we at least talk? Or watch the game at a volume that something besides dogs could hear?
The entire post is correct. People are crazy. That woman should be forced to sit in coach in a middle seat between two screaming babies for a cross-country flight. For all of eternity.
Mama Kat says
Haha…that is a cruel and unusual punishment. I remember driving my sister crazy when I would insist on silence at a family dinner at my Mom’s house when I walked in with a sleeping baby.
She was my first…
Tori Nelson says
Oh, that video needs to be shown in schools, offices, and on street corners….I think everybody should see it!
Sorry First Class Superior Being almost bulldozed your baby. Next time? Stick a foot out :)
Paula/adhocmom says
Entitled is one of my LEAST favorite words in the entire language. Sometimes my hatred of it bites me in the ass. I’m so worried about coming off as entitled that I think I actually don’t ask for what I rightly deserve!!!!
Galit Breen says
Kat, you nailed this post. Perfectly.
I especially liked how graceful you were in what you said when Entitlement Lady whizzed by, modeling for your sweet girl what? Decency, I guess.
Great job, great post.
Mama Kat says
Thanks! Part of me was a little shocked, part of me was thinking “well she IS First Class and gets to go first”, and part of me just saw that she was completely tuned out to what was going on around her. I’m glad she apologized.
JennyBean says
Entitlement. It is obnoxious. And undeserved. It’s like humanity has forgotten its manners.
Excellent post.
Val says
I know what you mean by kids feeling entitled… My son decided he’s narcissist. Yeah think??? He acts like the world has come to a crashing halt when we run out of sour cream for his 15th taco of the day… If the internet is down for any reason… If the only other pair of skinny jeans of his isn’t washed because he can’t stand the normal jeans that don’t show off your butt crack…
It’s NOT all about YOU!!!! (That’s for him, not you.)
Great post!
Mama Kat says
Ugh!!! Teens are like the epitome of self centerdness. All we can do is love them through it and hope eventually they’ll get it!
Michelle says
LOVE this! I’ve been thinking about this same topic lately. Well written mamamamama!
Theresa says
uck, I hate ‘first-classers’
bite me, all of ya! (not you nice folks…lol)
Shirley says
I want to say I can’t believe that someone would act like that. Sadly, I cannot. I’m glad that your 5 year old wasn’t injured by the woman behaving like, a child. I think that if I were ever flying anywhere first class, I’d wait in line. I feel bad when I am at the post office and they say, fill this out then come back to me, and I get back in line (most times). I hope that next time the woman slows down and takes a minute to look around. I mean before she storms up to the front of the line to assert her first class ‘rights’.
Mama Kat says
It is sad…I don’t know what’s worse, that she felt entitled to her seat or that she was so totally unconcerned with the people around her.
SnipeWife says
Okay, I’m feeling a little guilty. I am NOT the woman who knocked over your child but on a recent trip (first in about 5 years) I did sort of line jump. And I was not the one with the business class ticket–my DH was. I was his “travel companion” and I got to have perks, like getting in line first, using the lounge, etc. I’m not sure what leg of the journey we were on or why we didn’t get in line exactly when they called for “Elite” class passengers… but I remember we kind of got in line at an angle from the rest of the line. And while the line seemed to have let my DH, the one with the business class ticket go, the line sort of pressed forward to block me. Well, not traveling often I sort of had an irrational idea/fear that I must not get separated from DH. Crazy, I know, we were getting on the same plane. It wasn’t about my entitlement. But I still feel guilty. Nope, entitlement came later when I was denied entry into the lounge in Glasgow and yet my husband’s full-fare business class ticket allowed not one, but TWO guests into the lounge with him. Nope, they wanted 15 pounds for me to join him. We sat in the main terminal.
Mama Kat says
I 100% believe we’re all guilty of this. How about the time I was in such a hurry to get off the plane that I bumped an old man with my heavy bag as I pulled it down from the overhead bin? I felt terrible. And what was I in such a rush for? To hurry up and wait in line to get off the plane? I wasn’t going anywhere!
Lynnie says
This is exactly why I am sometimes embarrassed to be an American in a foreign country. Boo on us.
An Authentic Life says
Sexy Hubby and I are ALWAYS discussing this. It’s a growing problem, and seemingly feels out-of-control.
And sadly, I too have three children who feel entitled to everything simply because they exist.
It’s exhausting.
Mama Kat says
The thing about kids is that they’re actually too young to “get” the whole “think of others first” so we have to give them a little break. But you’re right, it is a growing problem amongst us adults.
An Authentic Life says
MK, yes, I wasn’t speaking about your little darling, but entitlement in general.
And, I’m sorry but when does an adult shove past a small child? Doesn’t seem like a very “first-class” act IMHO.
Mama Kat says
Haha…my little darling definitely has her not so darling moments too. :)
Ruby says
Sounds like you feel entitled to another person not ever making a mistake. ;-) She had the grace to be remorseful. You don’t have much to be pissed about here really. Save mama bear energy for something that actually matters.
Mama Kat says
I know…I’m entitled to write about how entitlement bugs me, right? I’m definitely not pissed, just had a moment of “come on now lady, let’s just slow down and be courteous of one another shall we??” It got me thinking about people in general and how all of us are guilty of this to a degree.
Sharon says
This is a lot to think about, especially right now, watching what the people of Japan are going through. I am amazed and in awe at the integrity of those people!!!! No looting. Standing in line for 12 hours, without running over anyone’s child, just for basic necessities that we take for granted.
What have we done to ourselves? The video is great!
Jennifer G. says
Sharon, I thought the same thing when I read Kat’s post. From what I’ve seen and heard on the news, the Japanese people – despite the aftermath of the quake/tsunami/radiation they are dealing with – do not act entitled to anything. I saw a man standing calmly in line for food. He was waiting there for 30 hours. No one was cutting any lines or pushing any children out of the way. Maybe the entitlement issue is largely an American one?
Fenny says
I share your pet peeve! It bugs me when people think they own the darn world and you shouldn’t be in their way. And if you are, well, that’s your problem. This narcissistic behavior really gets to me… cuz this big old globe? It’s mine too, darn it!
Nicole @ Moments that Define Life says
This kind of thing happens all too often and it’s unfortunate. But like you said, if we didn’t have some sense of entitlement at times then some great progressions in society as well as for individually would not have happened. You make a very objective argument here!
Carri says
People annoy me. Doesn’t it seem like the sense of entitlement is getting worse, or am I just cynical?
Eh, probably cynical. This time change has really screwed with my head.
Laticia says
This is both street smart and inlgetielnt.
Crystal says
That video is hiliarious…and tied in nicely to your post, btw!! I get what you’re saying….entitlement is good when it’s benefitting US but when someone else is imposing their self-entitilement onto us…well, then that’s a much different story.
Cottage By The Sea says
It behooves me to remind my own children, especially my daughter who is getting married in 9 months, not to act like entitled human beings. aka – bridezilla. Not that she is mind you. She has me for a mother and knows that I could blow any kind of crazy at any time so she walks a pretty straight line. We are all just a heartbeat away from not being entitled so why be a jerk at all? I loved the UTube video. I can still remember using rotary dial, yet now I’m one of the impatient idiots who get flustered when my computer doen’t work at the pace of lightening! Loved your post.
Cathy says
I don’t know if her actions were a result of entitlement or simply rushing, rushing, rushing. Times like these make me hope for the best. As for the extra onion, I always tell my boys that the more complex they make something, the more chance they have of not getting it right, so careful what you ask for. And, my husband’s favorite line (which I have a lot of trouble with) “To ask is no sin, to be denied is no calamity”. I like it. It’s true.
Kindred Adventures says
You are right on. I think it is ok to want things and feel like we deserve things to a degree. To the degree that we appreciate others around us and it is healthy. Great post. I enjoyed reading it :) -Laverne
kisatrtle says
entitlement is a serious problem, but sometimes not that bad. Sorry your 5 year old was hurt. That video was great.
Patty Ann says
Yep, I had to spend several months in a wheel chair once and you would not believe how people push past you, run into you, and totally ignore you. I can’t stand being in crowds anymore because of it. People can be pretty inconsiderate. I usually just try and be kinder and more concerned with those around me. I try to change my own small spot in the world.
Jennifer@ The Mommy Mambo says
One of these “my-poop-don’t-stink” persons DIDN’T run over my 6 yr old in line to board a flight….rather, he gave him a shove to the side with his hand to get ahead of us and use his “Elite Pass”.
I thought for sure we were going to jail when I saw the look on Hubs face and his fists begin to ball up! Instead of dotting his eye, Hub thankfully opted to spat obscenities at the back of the man’s head; whose head was so far up in the clouds he pretended not to hear our ant voices.
I truely apreciated this post.
Rachel {at} Mommy Needs a Vacation says
She felt so entitled that she didn’t give a shit about those around her…so sad that people are like. To them…I say, grow the *F* up!!!
Sarah Ruth says
It’s so sad how people act and don’t pay attention to how their words or actions affect others. My cousin-in-law complains about her husband (my cousin) being gone for 3 days driving his truck. She tells me she understands how I feel. But my husband is in Afghanistan and has been for 8 months now. I can’t call him or text him. I’m lucky to get to instant message him every few days, and maybe once a month get to skype with him. She does NOT understand how I feel.
BTW, I LOVE that video. It’s so true!
adriel says
Great post Kat. I’m totally guilty of this, as much as I despise it. For me it’s the pregnant lady entitlement!! When I’m pregnant I feel tired and emotional and I really wish people would just be nice and let me skip to the front of the line or get my meal to me that tiny bit faster. Yup, guilty! What I’m not guilty of, however, is demanding those things. It’s just my wishful thinking…..
Thanks for a good reminder that entitlement is incredibly unattractive and selfish!