Category:
A front-row seat to the wildest encounters with the chronically entitled. Whether it’s a neighbor claiming your property or a stranger demanding your seat, these are the tales of people who always put themselves first.
I like to observe people very closely, and I was doing this in the busy grocery store while waiting in lane number five, which looked banana yellow to my mind. But my quiet observation quickly ended when a woman with a small dog decided she did not need to follow the line, walking right to the front instead.
I was in the coffee place, watching people and letting my pencil make lines that only made sense to me, thinking about the world and numbers. Then, a young woman in pink began to talk to the employee, and soon I felt that familiar feeling, like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole.
I love the smell of wet dirt and sweet roses in the plant shop, which makes my heart feel very quiet and happy. But my peaceful watching was quickly broken when a young man with a loud voice and an angry face tried to make his cat go into the special greenhouse where pets were not allowed.
The glare of the fluorescent lights in the hardware store always seems to amplify my sensitivity, forcing me to seek out the edges of the space for solace. But then, a woman’s voice, sharp with an entitlement that could curdle milk, cut through the quiet hum, demanding a return on a clearly damaged custom piece.
Saturday afternoons at the grocery store were my least favorite part of the week; the chaotic energy always felt overwhelming, a stark contrast to the quiet order I preferred. I just wanted to grab my few items and escape back to the serene calm of my apartment, but then she appeared.
The mall food court was usually a vibrant watercolor of sound and color to me, but today, it hummed with a muted orange, promising something less bright as I settled into my corner. Then, a woman I decided to call Karen in my head set her sights on a quiet corner table occupied by someone with medical equipment, and her son's sigh told me exactly what was about to unfold.
I was waiting in line at this amazing bakery, happy as could be from the smell of sugar, when the whole vibe of the place just felt…off. It was like the air getting heavy before a thunderstorm, and then these two walked past everyone, right up to the counter, like the line just didn’t exist.
I like everything to have a proper place and a proper time, so the messy county license office immediately put me on edge. My carefully planned afternoon was then threatened by a young man who believed his time was worth more than anyone else's, as he pushed straight to the front of the line.
The afternoon sun was warm, and I was looking forward to picking up some special cheese on my way home. Then I heard it, a sharp voice laced with an unpleasant entitlement cutting through the park's quiet.
I was just drifting through a slow afternoon at the rec center, my mind on old buttons and the patterns they hold. Then a young guy with a familiar swagger walked up, and that old pattern, the one where someone thinks they're special, started to tingle in my head.
I was content to sit on a bench outside a busy bicycle rental shop, watching the world go by from a safe distance. My quiet observation was interrupted when an expensive sports car arrived, and a young man with a demanding air made it clear he expected only the absolute best.
It was a Tuesday afternoon, and I was already having the worst day of my entire life, my feet hurting and my stomach growling. Just as I was trying to find my soup, a woman strutted in, convinced she deserved the world and whatever she wanted.
