There's Always One.....

[Duke]

Ever been in a situation where there is that one person who just doesn't get it, or thinks the rules don't apply to them?

Today as I was seventh in a 20+ deep line to pick up my granddaughter at the YMCA, a woman walked past the lot of us and tried to open the locked door we were all standing in front of. Even if I give her the benefit of the doubt that several weeks into camp she still didn't know the Y doors are unlocked precisely at 3:45, did she think the rest of us had queued up in the rain for fun?

Tell us about your "that one person" experience.

 

[garnetsilver]

Well, this was actually an experience with two people. I was waiting for a Greyhound Bus in the Port Authority building in NYC. I had made sure to get there early because I knew there would be a long line and I didn't want to risk there being no room on the bus. As I waited, the line grew until there were at least forty people in it. There was an announcement that a second bus would be put into service, so people from the first line began to migrate over to the second rapidly forming line.

Along came a young couple. I could tell by their demeanor, that they were about to cut the line. They pretended to be deeply engrossed in conversation, as they casually strolled past. I watched in amazement as they boldly positioned themselves in front of everyone else in the second line. To my surprise, nobody complained!

 

[titch2k6]

Again, like garnet's story, not one person, but three (with a fourth involved 'after the facts').

Serving in Vitez during the Bosnia & Hertzgovinan war in the mid-'90s, we were, as you would expect, under a lot of restrictions as to what we could and couldn't do. One of the biggest rules drilled into us by HQ was there was no leaving the base other than for operational reasons. Stands to reason with the fact that there was a conflict going on around us.

One morning in early August, our entire platoon was woken early by the Platoon Commander and told we had to be on parade in 10 minutes with all of our battle equipment. This was highly unusual for this to happen during a deployment like this and as we got ready, we were all wondering what was going on. We did not have to wait too long, once on parade, to find out.

We were informed (actually, screamed at) by our PC that, that evening, whilst certain members of our Platoon had been on camp guard duty, three of our comrades had taken it upon themselves to exit camp in civvies and hit the town, looking for a bar to get hammered in. They were noticed in a bar by a local Policeman and reported it back to the camp, where MPs were rapidly dispatched to pick them up and return them, where they were then promptly thrown into holding 'cells'.

To make matters worse for us, the guard that let them through his post, and out of the camp, was also a member of our platoon.

The brown and smelly certainly hit a very large, and very fast fan.

The remaining members of our Platoon who were oblivious to all this, myself included, were beasted (exercised and drilled) for the entire day, which was also, incidentally, a day of rest for us. Privates and NCO's suffered at the hands of the PC and Platoon Seargent, just because of the actions of four dimwits who thought the rules did not apply to them............

 

[Duke]

Maybe I should have called this thread, "There's Always At Least One..."

 

[Lynne]

Loved reading these. I know this must have happened to me but I can’t think of a good one at the moment.

 

[7Critter]

Anyone who thinks that they are so important that they are entitled to park in front of a store in a shopping center vice park in the parking lot and walk the distance like everyone else.

In my head, i have opened their running car's door and moved their vehicle to the far reaches of the parking lot many times while they were in the store.

My same anger applies to a driver who drops a passenger off in front of a store ( okay in my opinion ) AND THEN PROCEEDS TO WAIT IN FRONT OF THE STORE, instead of moving to a spot in the parking lot.

 

[Duke]

Anyone who thinks that they are so important that they are entitled to park in front of a store in a shopping center vice park in the parking lot and walk the distance like everyone else.

In my head, i have opened their running car's door and moved their vehicle to the far reaches of the parking lot many times while they were in the store.

My same anger applies to a driver who drops a passenger off in front of a store ( okay in my opinion ) AND THEN PROCEEDS TO WAIT IN FRONT OF THE STORE, instead of moving to a spot in the parking lot.

I started working as a parking lot painter to save money for college at age fourteen. The area in front of stores as you described is technically a "fire lane." It's to allow fireman access through the lot and a location from which to fight a fire. Parking there is a traffic violation even if there are not "no parking" sign posted. Some police departments take this very seriously and write tickets. The police in Lima, Ohio were particularly aggressive in writing those tickets at the Lima Mall.

 

[garnetsilver]

I also dislike it when people drive up to someone's home, with their car stereo booming loud enough to rattle windows, then proceed to leave the car running, and the music playing, while they go visit someone.

 

[Benway]

Way back, when I was working in my first off-license (liquor store) I was on a solo shift when the building caught fire. (I hasten to add that it wasn't me; it was the place above the shop.) The alarms went off and as if that wasn't enough, smoke was actually pouring in from the back room. The customers were a little confused and milling about (they did that; I think something about shopping activates the grazing cow part of the brain,) so I, in my best commanding voice, said 'FIRE! Everyone out! This is not a drill!'.
As the shop front began to get hazy with smoke they got the message and began to leave.
Mostly. That one guy hung back and asked if I'd sell him some cigarettes first.
'No!' I said, and 'Leave!'
'Why?' he asked plaintively.
'Because the building is on fire! If you don't leave right now you'll be smoking in a way you won't like!'
'I know, but can't you just sell me them first?'
'There are other shops on this same road! And they AREN'T ON FIRE!!!!!'
'But I'm here...'
'GET OUT!!!!! NOW!!!!!'

I shoulda left him in there.

 

[Paintman]

Here are a few from the wonderful world of commercial painting Contracting.
We were painting the exterior facade of a strip mall that contained a grocery store and a Walgreens and about ten other shops of various sizes. Part of the benefits of pulling a permit to do this type of work is my company and its agents are allowed to direct traffic. So we put up orange cones and yellow tape and signs directing people to drive appropriately.
This protects my men and also people getting their cars over sprayed. And the second someone drives through a line of yellow tape and orange cones it's the driver's own damn fault that they got tagged with overspray.
This day was particularly dangerous because I had 2 scissor lifts in the parking lot and way up high.
Naturally a careless entitled couple drives straight through those barriers and dangerously close to those scissor lifts. I was the ground man close by manning the spray pumps. The short story is Gunnery Sergeant Hartman from Full Metal Jacket would have been very proud of me.

Another time we were papering & painting a truck stops Diner in the middle of the night. Very bad area and all of my guys were packing. Me to. This six-foot-four very athletic gentleman walked through the tape , the tarps, right next to the wet paint sign - and leaned over the wet counter. We all saw this but the guy went to the manager and complained that we ruined his brand new sweatsuit. Me and a witness told the manager to roll the videotape and that would back up our story. I think the manager was used to these types of c6$#! and said just buy him a brand new sweat suit and charge me another hundred bucks it's not worth it.

At that same truck stop we were painting the convenience store in the middle of the fridgid Febuary night. There were Giant windows floor-to-ceiling so you could see out in front to the parking lot. There was a big stone garbage can corral with a removable lid on it. Homeless man takes off the lid and jumps up on top of it and goes number two. All at once a bunch of off-duty tactical officers from Gary Indiana - working security- surrounded the guy,wrap him in a blanket and threw him in the Paddy wagon. And I don't blame that homeless man's strategy to get out of the cold for one more night. He didn't hurt anybody or vandalize anything.