As I was working today, there was a table where two men were seated, and they were quietly chatting, so I went about my chores. One got up to ask for more toppings on his nachos, and when the manager was talking, one of my coworkers was speaking in Spanish to someone else, and the man got annoyed. I said, “My coworker is just speaking Spanish. Nothing is happening.” He got irritated and said, “I understand Spanish, so she better not be saying anything rude about me. I’ll say something rude back!” To be clear, my coworker was confirming who was working on orders that customers were waiting on–which he would know if he spoke Spanish. Later on, I paused to get a drink, and he started jeering and saying, “I saw what you did!” I responded, “I’m allowed,” and continued with my work. One thing was abundantly clear: the man expected that I submit to being his entertainment merely based on my proximity to him.
So many people have made it clear that they believe humanity is there to entertain them, and it has resulted in consistently obnoxious behavior. Everyone is here to live their lives, but some people believe that others are simply on display, not living through their days just like their spectators. Unnecessary comments, unwarranted criticism, and constant engagement are very stressful for even the most patient of individuals, but such behavior has amplified due to an unprecedented level of entitlement that people are feeling. Then, when people ask the spectators to stop lurking at other people just living their lives, suddenly the spectators want everyone to soothe them back into emotional equilibrium. When people feel like the world is their television, the concept of living without interfering with others for a laugh is foreign.
To me, seeing others as entertainment rather than other people speaks to an inability to self-soothe. Nobody asked to be placed on a stage that others cannot live without. No, someone speaking to their coworkers in Spanish does not deserve to be hyperscrutinized when all they were doing was their job. No, sitting in a restaurant does not entitle anyone to keep running commentary on everything happening. People need to learn to live and let live, and stop assuming that everyone is out in the world for clicks and likes. The violence and the harassment of the imperial government is enough without random people offering extra.
Chasing A Dying Empire 