Cruel is Cool

I popped out on my lunch break today to get a few bits and pieces and found myself in a well known newsagent and stationers that you tend to see on every high street. Whilst in there I witnessed further evidence that the world is just getting crueler.

First of all I was in the book section and I saw a chap walk up to the post office section which was all closed up with a big sign saying "Closed due to local holiday". He then walked up to a member of staff and without further ado got right to the heart of the matter by asking the question that was on everyone's lips. "Is the post office closed?"

The staff member courteously explained that it was closed today as it is a Scottish holiday. The gent asking the question had a slight East Coast accent and requested further clarifcation.

"It's a Scottish bank holiday?!"

"No Sir" replied the staff member, "It's a local holiday in the West of Scotland."

"Well.." said Mr East Coast, "it's not a Scottish holiday I can assure you of that!"

At this point in proceedings I was beginning to wonder what he hoped would be the outcome of this discourse. Did he think the staff member would turn round and say "Oh really? Not a Scottish holiday you say? Well in that case I'll call the staff in and open that post office right up for you, please take a seat, they only live upstairs." No, I got the impression that the guy asked the question of the member of staff already knowing the answer with the express intention of starting an argument that neither side would win. In fact, I got the impression he was complaining for the sake of complaining in that passive aggressive "I'm only having a laugh with you buddy" way that says "I have nothing else going on in my life."

By this point I had directed my attention back to the books and whilst perusing them heard someone on the other side of the bookcase say to a member of staff (the same one as before I suspect) "I hate to tell you this but this is much more expensive than Waterstones". Really? Do you? Do you hate to tell him that? Then why tell him, what do you think he will do with that information, is he going to offer you a price match? Perhaps he'll pop out to Waterstones which is only a few doors down and buy it for you. Or maybe, just maybe, armed with this information you could take yourself off to Waterstones and buy the fricking book there and we can all get on with our lives. Personally speaking I was perfectly happy to pay what I paid for my books, I would say it was pretty good value for money. Maybe I could have got the books cheaper in Waterstones, who knows, but all in all I was happy with my purchase.

At this point in my story I am looking up and feeling that I too have been sucked into the cruelty culture. Although I tend not to indulge in the popular reality TV genre that I believe has been wholly responsible for the corruption of society, it is possible that some of it has leaked into my psyche via osmosis. I wont watch anything with Simon Cowell in it as I believe him to be one step down from Satan but his "honest criticism" and cruelty as entertainment style of TV has not escaped my attention completely. I know who he is and what he does for example, so even though I chose not to partake, I cannot escape completely. So now I think I may have been a little harsh on the poor punters in my tale. However that does not excuse the fact that they were unnecessarily mean and rude to the member of staff for doing nothing other than being in work on a day when everyone else was on holiday.

By now I am feeling a kinship with the staff, I've worked in the service industry and I, after all, am also in work when everyone else is not. So I take myself up to the till with my purchases. Now, for the second time in 2 weeks I have opted to go into a shop and purchase a DVD rather than buy online. I normally buy these things online and since places like Woolworth and HMV and all of the places you would normally go are gone or going I have had little option. But last week I was able to go into shop and find a movie that I was struggling to find elsewhere and it was a lovely old-school experience where I took my empty box up to the counter and a fellow went through the back and brought out the discs and the booklet and inserted it into the box and I completed my transaction. I felt like I was giving the high street a shot in the arm instead of the kick in the teeth I have been giving it in recent years. It will still die ultimately but I threw a few coins into the fund for it's long-term care and felt good about it.

So here we are today and I am looking forward to repeating this process as I stand in the queue with my empty DVD box. Then I am called forward by a sweet little lady who welcomes me with a smile and starts passing my chosen items through the scanner. Then she find the DVD in her hand and the whole world seemed to spin on it's axes. It was like that bit in The Hunt for Red October where the camera stops, slowly spins round and suddenly Sean Connery is speaking in English instead of Russian. This sweet lady turns to me and says "I'll need to go through the back and get your DVDs, I'll be as quick as I can but you'll need to wait there". No I realise when reading this it doesn't sound too harsh but there was a tone. A tone that said "Have you seen the length of this queue, do you realise its because of people like you that they have to wait? Are you seriously expecting me to go through the back and get this DVD for you?" I wasn't sure if she expected me to say "Don't worry about it, I'll just leave it." Perhaps if I had been one of the grumpy complainer that's exactly what I would do. "WHAT?!?! WAIT?!?! Do you realise if I was in Edinburgh I would able to buy stamps right now!! Keep your DVD, this is an outrage!!"

Anyway, the  bitch took a bloody age to get it and I only get half an hour for my lunch. I won't be back and this time next year she'll be unemployed. Good riddance!

September 11th : The Day the World Got Scarier

12 years ago today I was on days off from work and was at home alone. I slept late, walked down to the shop and bought some stuff for brunch, came back to my skanky flat, cooked up a full Scottish breakfast, turned on News24 and watched in confusion as the whole world changed right in front of me. I spent the rest of my week off watching the Twin Towers collapse over and over again in slow motion from various angles, saw the planes hit again and again and again and listened to confused commentators and witnesses speculate and try and make sense of it all. When it was time for me to return for my first shift back in the high glass tower I called work, I walked towards it afraid to look at the sky in case a plane flew into it too as this was the only image I had seen for the last few days. No-one expected the Towers to fall down so who knew what might be next. Probably not a hotel in Glasgow and I knew that but I couldn't get the image out of my head. Still can't 12 years later.

Now I work for a company who have been involved in rebuilding the World Trade Center site and my part in it is miniscule but at least it's something and I can take a small amount of pride in that. So for today I shall be thinking about the 3,000 people who died that day and the many heroes who defied logic and ran towards the buildings when everyone else was running away.

If it interests you at all to see what work has been done on the site since then there is a link below with some interesting documentary stuff at the bottom.

One World Trade Center