Everyone Has a Story

Everyone has a story to tell, I’m just not interested in hearing it. What is overlooked in the conversation about today’s narcissistic society is the imposition people place on everyone else in too many of life’s situations. This is the era of anyone being able to do anything they want. It brings vanity beyond the selfie sticks and the snapchat obsessions.

Don’t bring your stroller into a small brunch restaurant. Don’t bring your big dog into a sunglass store. Don’t talk on the phone in a crowded subway.

Why do people think that it’s okay to impose their every desire on the rest of us? It turns the normal, mind-your-own-business folks into suckers, who suffer privately by just acting normally because, while they don’t indulge their hedonistic wants in the interest of society as a whole, others do. The incentives now do not reward those who act “normally”, they reward those who act upon any and all of their whimsical desires.

Now, this is not to say that your wife doesn’t appreciate you bringing in your baby’s stroller, or that the person you are on the phone with doesn’t want to talk to you (though they probably don’t), it’s just that it is incredibly selfish. It transfers your problems onto other people when they really should be borne by just you. It’s the entitlement society we live in. You can do whatever you want, no matter what it means to the person next you. And it drives me nuts.

I don’t want to hear your life story while I’m trying on a pair of jeans. I don’t want your ‘insight’ into weather reports as I buy a cup of coffee. Know your place. Stay in your lane. I don’t tell you how to foam my fucking milk for the cappuccino. I don’t tell you how to drive the cab despite the fact that you drive like an impatient maniac. If the Humans of New York guy wants your picture and some non-sequitur quote about your miserable life, share it. Otherwise, keep your stories to yourself.