Abusing my goodwill

They weren't major incidents as such. Nothing serious. Just little things that really pissed me off. Or made me think about how people interact these days.

The first incident involved myself directly, at the hotel. It was 5am, the other day, and some guy walked in the front doors, into the lobby. He walked calmly, like he was just out on an evening stroll. He had several piercings in his ears, and a heavy metal t-shirt. Overall, he seemed kind of filthy dirty, and when he closed in on me, the stench of alcohol hit my nostrils. Not a good start for this dude.

Then he spoke. "Can I use the phone, please?" he said. I didn't hesitate long, before replying: "No, sorry. I can't let you do that". In many cases, when making outright and weird claims, and being told no, people decide to just turn around and leave. I mean, it's honest business, telling somebody no. But not this guy. He asked me why not. I said, that first of all, it was company policy, second of all, it costs money, and third of all, why should I? This angers him. "Because I asked nicely" he gives as his main reason. So what.. you asked nicely. What the hell is that supposed to do for me? If I asked you nicely to please kill yourself, would you HAVE to do it, just to please me? So we argue back and forth, and he yanks 26 kroner from his pocket. That's like pulling out 2 dollars, wanting to pay for a long distance. He claims he was mugged, and, and these were his exact words; 'lost everything I had in life, in 2 minutes'. I dunno how much of his personal stuff he carried around with him on nights out, but if he lost everything in his life, I'd say too much.

He asks me if I have a mobile phone on me (with the intention of asking to use that instead), and I tell him no, which, granted, was a lie. He asks me if I'm the only person in the country without a mobile. Smartass too. I like it. I'm starting to get pretty annoyed. I've told the guy no several times, politely at first, firmly afterwards. He won't leave. "Can't you just let me use the phone. It's right there?". "No, I told you already". "Why not?". "Why should I?". "To show some humanity". Humanity? Letting some washed up drunk use the fucking phone? What the hell. "I told you no, in a polite manner. Why don't you get the fuck outta my face".

He's starting to make my piss boil. We keep arguing. He thinks I can't throw him out, under the false understanding that I'm not allowed to because of the law. He was on private property, and I could've tossed him when I wanted. But he looked filthy, and I didn't want my hands touching him. He kept going on about how it was only a call (10 minute call, no less), and where was my humanity. I told him again to get the fuck out, and he flat out refused. "You'll have to call the police". So, I said fine. I'll let you hang out here and waste your time then. In the time you've stood here arguing about fuck all, you could've A) Taken the bus home and made the calls (he had his keys), or B) Walked the 10 minutes over to the police station and reported the mugging there.

So I just let him stand around. He was gruff. I went about my business. After 5 minutes, he walked out. Fucking moron. I hated him right there.

Second incident didn't involve me directly. I was out having a drink before work with a good friend of mine. Actually, my oldest friend, that I see on a regular basis. Known her since kindergarten, and even though she lives in a different part of the country, we keep in touch, and when we're around, we always make time to meet up, if nothing else, then for a few hours, to have a chat. So we're at this cafe. A guy is sitting at the neighboring table, by himself. He's smoking (we're sitting outside), and reading a paper. A guy comes up to him, and asks if he can have a cigarette. The smoking guy asks, fittingly, why? And the other guy goes: because I asked nicely.

What the fuck is up with the world? What kind of a world do we live in, where people can mooch anything they want off of others, under the cover of being polite. Don't get me wrong. I don't mind helping people. In fact, I like helping out. I work in the service business afterall. I've done volunteer work. I buy the homeless magazine from the street vendors, who are doing something about their situation, and get a percentage of the sale income for themselves. But just straight up giving shit away, no. No no no, I won't fucking do it, unless I chose to do it. Doing it because some fuckup tries to make me feel bad about his situation or myself, is absolutely nogo.

If somebody asks me nicely for something, I'll consider it, out of respect for them as a person. But if I say no, I want that same fucking respect. If it was in the middle of the desert, and a guy came crawling up to me, clearly inches away from death, sure.. I'll give him water. But if a dude walks up to me in the street, in one of the best working welfare states in the world, and asks me for a cigarette because he's too much of a fuckup to buy his own, and then have the nerve to blame me for saying no, then he can very kindly kiss my ass.

I work. In a job that I don't particularly like, no less. Ok, I like it enough, but it's not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. But it's work. I get paid. I pay taxes, I pay rent, I pay bills. I pay a helluva lot of stuff. And when I get my taxed money, I pay a boatload of VAT/Sales tax on food and drinks. So when push comes to shove, whatever I have bought, has been paid for. So if I decide to give something of it to a random moron on the street, it's fine. But that is MY choice. Not the choice of the Pseudo-humanitarians who get I don't know how much from the government, to support lord knows what kind of drug habits, and then don't have any money left for the essentials.

It really pissed me off. I help when and where I want to. And if that isn't ok, then I don't want to be ok. People can get a job or complain to their representatives at their local community office. Just leave me alone.