It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man with no sense of his own worth is a very miserable man indeed. At least, I presume it's a truth universally acknowledged. It makes sense to me, at least, and if what I perceive as common sense isn't exactly common, why then I fear that my world would implode. Which illustrates my first point; I'm so sure of myself that I can make statements on what constitutes a universal truth without doing any research whatsoever. I just know. Because I am sure of myself. And thus I am happy.
There are a lot of self-assured people out there these days too, which is a great thing and all in a Catholic country which was once saddled with more guilt than a brown man in a courtroom full of white supremists. Plenty of us remember a time when confident women were packed away to scrub sheets for nuns until the skin fell off their knuckles, or when anyone who stole a quick root-around in their Y-fronts was sure of an eternity of hot-poker-violation. Ireland's become acquainted with her ego, and sure, that can't be a bad thing after 800 years of overbearing cockneys Lambeth-walking all over the Bog Of Allen, right?
Right?
Bock said, in the comments of yesterday's post, that "an entire generation of Irish people has grown up without ever hearing the word NO from anyone." Hyperbole to be sure, but the point he's making is very true, and the Celtic Tiger years haven't spared those old enough to know better, either. The number of people I meet in my day-to-day floundering who believe that the rest of us owe them something, that they're entitled to respect without earning it, is pretty alarming. Mind you, it doesn't generally manifest itself as violence, like in the case of yesterday's random arsehole. It's more a deep-seated, chin-jutting attitude that's probably described as assertiveness or fiestiness or an admirable allergy to "taking any shit" by its host, and as rudeness, preciousness or just general fucktardery by the rest of us.
We've all come across the old dears with razor-edged elbows at the bus stop, mangling pregnant women and toddlers and people on crutches in their bid to wave a Free Travel pass at the driver before anyone else. No doubt you're aware that some busy mums find it acceptable to banjax the ankles of anyone who doesn't have the advantage of freewheeling a buggy with a screaming baby in. Or perhaps you've met a taxi driver or two, tearing past you on a roundabout and forcing you to spin into the Tidy Towns's centrepiece of begonias planted in the shape of a harp? Swe.Ge had a problem not so long ago with subordinates at work complaining that he'd actually had the nerve to direct and delegate tasks in their daily schedules ("Please sir! My manager is trying to manage me!") I'd like to see them work in my office, where a door once got kicked off its hinges by a rampaging engineer.
Y'know, speaking of work, a colleague of mine in customer service was recently terrorised by a Pensioner (capitalised as per her insistence) who demanded he immediately implement a 24-hour emergency service for an out-of-guarantee item she'd purchased a decade ago, and when he told her that he couldn't get to her until the following morning, 1st thing, she phoned the office to log a complaint about him. Another self-important individual, with the tact and subtlety of a rusty oil drum fecked at an angle into the garden of Eden, phoned my workplace yesterday to complain that the sales rep he'd made contact with hadn't returned his call within an hour, so he was never going to deal with us again. An hour. The sales rep in question was on the road on appointments at the time.
Now, I don't want this post to turn into one long bitch about the people I deal with at work (I've already waffled on too long for that). The general public simply has a very bad attitude all of a sudden, whether it's the Council estate chavettes (read: ma homies) who think the State should pay them to vegetate on the couch and pop out babies, or the executive who demands a special price everywhere he goes because his brother is on the board at the K-club. I wouldn't like to think I'm one of a dying breed or anything, but honestly... I can't be the only 1st world citizen who accepts that I'm not owed a good time or an easy time. If anything, I'm in arrears up to me eyeballs.
Don't get me wrong. Ireland isn't such a bad gaff, and the people are pretty doable (double-entendre intended). But we could do with a healthy dose of humility; maybe even the odd overdose on mortification. And the thing about recession is...
Well whaddya know. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Have a good weekend, everyone.
Friday, January 16, 2009
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8 comments:
For me it is a blessed wonder it is not worse. Now with Tony Gregory gone, and regardless what you think of his positions, was an example. And a good one. Noel Browne was another. I'm not sure how useful the rest of them are.
But if you look round there are not many in any walk of life that you could hold to your children and say she/he is Good. Mind you Peter MacVerry fits, which is fairly notable given he is a Jesuit priest.
Fantastic post and right on the money. Irish people have performed a 180 degree about turn and the opposite to being meek and intimidated isn't always good.
Which is why the Irish abroad are becoming as disliked as the English lager louts.
When I was travelling, people would avoid the Irish mobs getting drunk in dorms and kitchens and everywhere like the plague. Loud, obnoxious and determined to tell everyone they were Irish and thus they were universally adored. Also, they didn't half fucking moan.
I'm glad about this recession. The world needed a kick up the hole. This shall do for now, until the Martians arrive in 2012, having been royally pissed off by some NASA digger ripping up their home.
Yeah. Martians. They caused methane on Mars, 'pparently. Yup.
Thanks for the complimentary comment, Spudley. Or the commliment. Ooh, I like that one. I may just adopt it!
I wonder is it really a "new" thing to think the world revolves around only you? I have no proof of what things were like before the Celtic Tiger, really, as that was before I could vote or indeed dress meself. Perhaps Irish people have always been arrogant cunts.
I mean, those mad grannies with the elbows at the bus stop... have they really just recently adopted that nasty attitude towards everyone else? Perhaps they simply hate people who, unlike them, don't smell of wee.
Take it from one who was there long before the wolf at the door morphed into the Celtic Tiger, those mad grannies have always been selfish bitches. But they were really the only ones. Anyone else would be told to cop on to themselves.
The Irish and British are merely catching up with the Americans, soon everyone will be like a Yank.
Irish people abroad are fucking useless, "craic, craic, craic its our word we're Irish and we're hammered" for fucking three months every summer-cramp my air of culture and sobriety they do!
"fucktardery? I'm not sure I could use it in a sentence, but it is a most amusing word.
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