If you have ever had the privilege of associating with your fellow man from behind a store counter then you know the feeling of wanting watch them spit up their own teeth.
Most people with money to spend, no matter how little it is, seem to expects that you, lowly cashier, lowly stock clerk, will naturally want to give them a prolonged rim job at the expense of all your other customers and all your other duties. If you don’t then they will make trouble for you with your supervisor, or at least try. This kind of behavior is especially popular, in the USA anyway, with childless older white women who feel forgotten by the world. The kind of women who hoard cats.
Power
They like the feeling of being able to cause trouble for the front-line worker, this is a way in which they can feel powerful. The truth is that they can’t really cause trouble for anyone else and they know it. They know that you need the job, that this was your only option. They like being able make you afraid, or to think that they made you afraid. They will think this because they would be afraid in your position.
The immense value of their money to them
A certain kind of person who when faced with having to spend money that they believe they worked for harder than anybody else, treats merchants like con-men or robbers. They will do everything in their power to make the sale as stressful and unpleasant as possible for you. Their fifty bucks is like the gift of their kidney and they need you recognize that. They think that they are blessing you with their money.
They want to take you down a notch
Maybe your demeanor is just a little too professional. You might exude a calm confidence that seems a little bit too smug to them and sets off an alarm similar to that in the mind of a redneck who is presented with an educated, well-mannered black person. You are a little bit too “uppity”. They have a compulsion to put you in your place.
They think that you have to be unpleasant to get respect
Usually these are people who think that respect is the same as cowering. They have never been respected, just feared on those occasions when they have wielded power. To them being considerate or even just reasonable equates to weakness, they are letting themselves get pushed around by not bullying you.
Shit rolls downhill
If they don’t have a dog to kick or a child to yell at, the next best person is the counter clerk at McDonald’s or the greeter at Wal-Mart. Their misery will get passed on to you, just by virtue of them not having anybody else they could possibly treat like shit and get away with it. People with no skills at handling their emotions tend to transfer negative feelings to the easiest viable target.
The sense of entitlement
In America, in and in people elsewhere who have lived in America, the sense of entitlement is a chronic condition. People believe that they are special and deserve to be treated as such without proof. People like to demand that which they have not earned and that which they are not guaranteed by law. It’s the whole concept of “rights” that comes with American society, the idea that life should be biased toward them and what they want at any given moment.
The need for attention
Even the negative kind, even the here-comes-that-bitch-again kind. Some people have no idea how to get any other kind of recognition from people and so they settle for the look of disgust. At least it’s a look. At least you remember this person now. They feel validated by it in some way. They have won a place with you. For some people an enemy is the closest thing to a friend they will ever have.
Simple rude assholery
Believe it or not, lots of people are lacking in good manners or people skills. They have no idea how their actions or words look to others and they don’t care. They want what they want and they will do whatever they have to do to get it. It’s exactly how small children are. Think of it as a kind retardation.
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