Self-Righteous Indignation

I seem to have a bad case of self-righteous indignation; the guy that cuts in front of me on the highway gets an earful, the impolite woman who bumps into me at the supermarket without bothering to apologize is called a few names (muttered under my breath), and the loud, pretentious couple at the next table are labeled some very unbecoming names. After six years of living in a multi-cultural society, I have come to the following conclusion: everyone is an uncivilized and arrogant moron.

Or maybe something is wrong with me. What is it that bothers me exactly when someone jumps the line on the highway exit? Is it that I’m going to be late? Is it the fact that I feel like an idiot for queuing for over half an hour, and someone gets through in a minute? Do I secretly want to do the same thing, but don’t want to lose out on the chance to flaunt my indignation at other peoples’ rudeness and idiocy? After all, the anger and resentment I feel when someone does something wrong matches any rudeness on their part.

Maybe I should get over this self-righteous indignation, and jump the queue, bulldoze into someone and walk on, talk at the top of my voice, leave my tray on the table at the food court for the cleaners to pick up, touch the bread at the bread counter with my hands, berate the waiter when my order is late, park across two parking spaces and de-silence my phone, choosing the most annoying ring tone that can be heard five offices down.

I might find myself liberated from a civility that is only surface-deep, or I might find that I do the things I do because they make me feel better about myself, regardless of what others do. You have been warned, rude and arrogant person no. 1,354,698 about to be unleashed on the streets of this city – wish me a safe return, convinced the ways of selfishness and arrogance are not for me and happy to park further away at the mall because all the 4x4s have taken up more than their allotted parking space (after all, its good exercise)! :)))