Entitlement

I find that I'm getting quite exhausted with the sense of entitlement that seems to abound today. Maybe I see more of it because of the area in which I live, but I think I'm getting too old to be tolerant of it.

This rant got started on my way home from school last night. I'm a fast driver. I'm not the fastest on the road, but I know I drive faster than the speed limit. I get so frustrated with people driving in the fast lane, going five miles an hour over the speed limit, who think they should not move over for the line of traffic piling up behind them.

I used to think it was just their being rude. I could see them thinking, "I'm going over the speed limit. I SHOULD be in the fast lane." And they would be completely clueless, or just pissed off if I went around them on the right. (Yes, I know that's technically illegal.)

So I would think, "where did they learn to drive? Did they miss the lesson on slower traffic moving right?"

But tonight I came to the realization that it's more likely a sense of entitlement. I think people just don't care. They are driving. They feel entitled to drive wherever and however they want, regardless of how it might impact anyone around them.

And driving isn't the only thing. The entitlement reaches into every inch of people's lives. Kids think they are entitled to everything they see on tv, adults think they are entitled to everything their neighbors have, everyone thinks they are entitled to a retirement whether they plan for it or not.

I know those are general statements, and may not necessarily apply to YOU, but why do you think we (as a country) are busy bailing businesses out for failing, over-paying union workers, "stimulating" the economy with taxpayer money, giving mortgage "relief" to people who can't pay their mortgages so they can keep a home they can't afford, and on and on...

Does this bother anyone else?