Creeping Misanthropy

Sometimes I find it terribly hard not to be a complete misanthrope. That is not to say, as a curmudgeon, I am not perturbed at the direction of many things and with the ideas stapled in many people’s heads. Lord knows, I am. But in the living of everyday life, you encounter a steady stream, day-in and day-out with no break for lunch or holiday, of utterly dumb, inconsiderate, blindly selfish, arrogantly self-centered individuals. They are everywhere and are, I think, breeding at a rapid rate.

Lately this has come home to me in two areas: driving and dogs. Let me explain. First, no matter what they say about East Coast drivers being jerks, it has not changed much on my sojourn out to the Midwest. They drive extraordinarily fast out here and tailgate with the best of them. Tailgating represents vehicular arrogance and seems to be based on several important points (and I flatter it by making it seem a rational choice – it is always unthinking): (1.) you are going too slow for the driver behind you, or (2.) the driver behind you does not like people in front of him, (3.) by driving very close the driver behind you either hopes (a.) you’ll speed up, or (b.) pull over, and finally (4.) the driver behind you thinks you do not notice him, so he pulls over toward the left (toward the yellow line) so that one half of his car and one headlight is clearly visible in your side mirror.

Referring to my list above, tailgaters are dumb people because they assume that by their unsafe actions they can affect another’s driving behavior. Tailgaters are inconsiderate because they are intent on making a public statement (via their car) that you are too slow for them, and it is terribly annoying to have someone inches off your bumper. Tailgaters are blindly selfish and arrogantly self-centered because they are only considering their own situations and do not care about anyone but themselves. “Whatever I think gets me to my bowling match on time, that’s what I’ll do. So get outta my way.” It is sort of like driving and getting to my destination by any means necessary.

Second, I would estimate fully half or maybe more of dog owners should not own a dog. Every day we walk our dogs around the block and every day we encounter utterly dumb, inconsiderate, selfish, and arrogant fellow dog owners. They often refuse to keep their dogs on leashes and let them run free around the neighborhood, where they can pester other dogs, do their doos in other people’s yards, and harass other people walking their dogs on a leash. When their dogs get run over by a semi-truck at rush hour, do you think they will realize the error of their ways? I doubt it.

Those dog owners who do walk their dogs on leashes (God bless them all) often do not pick up their dogs doo, which means the rest of us have to walk through a cesspool. I am often tempted to monitor who is not cleaning up after their canine charges, collect their deposits, and return them to their owner’s front porch. “I’m sorry, you must have dropped this.” These people must think they are the only ones in the world, that their dog doo will evaporate, that no one else will ever notice or care. Notice: the world is not your oyster. Lift up your head and see that other people have to live with you and your dog.

Finally, too many dog owners do not train their dogs, and when you encounter them on walks (again, assuming they are on leashes) they bark deliriously and sometimes viciously, and pull on the leash so violently they leave the ground and their owners are often dragged with them. And the owner’s response? Rarely a “sorry” or “I apologize,” but usually a smile or no recognition at all (“Maybe if I ignore them, they won’t notice.”)

Hence, with some reservation but based on experience, misanthropy is rapidly become my creed. Is thinking outside yourself that difficult? Is the notion that the world is larger than yourself too hard to fathom? Apparently so, for far too many.