"Paul M. Cook" > wrote in message
...
>
> "The UnInmate" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "Paul M. Cook" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>
>>> "Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> If this isn't the most absurd situation I've seen
>>>> in a checkout line, it's close. Maybe it ties with
>>>> the kid who threw the phoniest temper tantrum I've
>>>> ever seen in front of a doormat mother who obviously
>>>> lost control of her kid when he was very young.
>>>>
>>>> There were two Chinese women in front of me, an
>>>> elderly one and a middle-aged one. The younger one
>>>> was translating for the older one, and as it turned
>>>> out, she didn't know her. She just volunteered to
>>>> translate, because the older woman didn't speak
>>>> any English at all.
>>>>
>>>> As I stood there and learned more of the story,
>>>> it appeared the older woman was trying to return
>>>> a watch battery. She had the original packaging
>>>> for the battery, and the watch that the battery
>>>> was put into, but the problem was that the battery
>>>> was inside the watch. Nobody knew how to get the
>>>> battery out of the watch, and the clerk didn't want
>>>> to give a refund without getting the battery back.
>>>>
>>>> Fortunately, the clerk rang up my bottle of beer
>>>> and can of olives while the women were making their
>>>> case for a refund. I don't know how it was resolved,
>>>> but I did give the poor clerk a smile in sympathy
>>>> with her dilemma.
>>>
>>> Standing in checkout lines seems to be getting worse all the time. I
>>> have seen stuff like this where a person holds up a line forever with
>>> endless demands from the clerk. I wonder sometimes if this isn't the
>>> only attention they ever get in their lives.
>>
>> It's childish to jump to the conclusion that anyone who "kicks up a fuss"
>> is "just looking for attention." It's simplistic even when applied to the
>> behaviour of most children. What it's motivated by is self-centredness on
>> the part of the person *speaking*, not the person "looking for attention;
>> because the person speaking only sees the way someone else is affecting
>> him, which is to inconvenience him, and gives no thought to what the
>> other person's situation or perspective might be. I find if you bother to
>> take the slightest interest in people, their behaviour often makes sense.
>
> So you're saying my desire to choke the living shit out of them is
> inappropriate?
>
> Paul

Desires are never inappropriate. Only actions can be. But I was narrowly
commenting on the suggestion that they're just looking for attention. It was
and still is silly.