Excuse Me, Thank You

I attended a craft fair yesterday. Might I say, I enjoyed myself. People are very talented artists, cooks, and inventors. I’m sure I didn’t capture the entirety of the goods being sold, but the vendors were inspiring. They boldly displayed products to be criticized by the world. That takes some guts. However, in a consumer driven world, putting your product out there is just another way chance at making money. On this day, merchandise was plenty, and people were loving every second of it. Some anyway.

There was an abundance of people looking, buying, tasting, conversing, enjoying each other’s company, etc. There were over 200 booths of vendors. So, customers had a wide variety of goods to choose from. The room were set up in big arenas as to ensure many booths could be accommodated as possible. That means the traffic flow of people was nothing short of slow, and chaotic.

Ok. It wasn’t that bad. I do have this quirk though. I do not like to walk behind slow people. I get antsy and start looking for the best route of escape. The people I was with were not like that. They would wait patiently until the people flow opened up for them to walk. I suppose I need to learn that type of patience, and I did well yesterday. However, when it’s time to go, it’s time to go. We hit a couple of pockets of slow people which was to be expected since people are perusing merchandise in an open forum. Baby strollers and kids of all ages were around in full force. People were standing in the middle of the aisle talking to friends that haven’t seen in awhile. Things moved as freely as they could, but there’s always an exception to the rule.

All over the place people were bumping into each other. Again, it’s to be expected because space was tight. What was not expected was the lack of manners involved.

I’m a pretty big guy. Thus, in that setting, I’m going to either get bumped or I’m going to bump someone else. Someone is going to cut me off or vice versa. Maybe we know. Maybe we are unaware (in those cases I lighten up). However, it’s only proper to say excuse me.

I feel like this is a dying art form in American society.

What happened to being polite? I know in North Dakota, there are have been plenty of instances where kids have went running in front of me without a word said from the parent. Kids run, weave, dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge to get to their destination. Some of the parent’s look like their in lala land while their kid is running wild. Let me paint a picture/scenario for you.

I’m walking along in the mall minding my business and here comes little Kaden flying out of GameStop. He reachestop speed within three seconds. As I’m turning the corner, I come to a screeching, reactionary halt while watching Kaden sprint off down the hallway. If I didn’t, then I’d plow the kid over. No excuse me. No, I’m sorry. Not a word. Kaden continues on his way. I turn and look to see smiling parent’s say something to the effect of, “he’s just really excited.” I guess that’s supposed to excuse him cutting me off?

The above is just a scenario with some elements taken from real life. I have been in positions were kids AND adults bump or cut me off while walking with nary a polite gesture. I usually don’t trip (no pun intended) over these instances. I do want to say this.

It’s okay to say excuse me.

It really is. I can’t tell you how many times I said excuse me at the craft fair even when there may not have been a need. It’s just common courtesy. My shopping experience is no greater than another’s. So, it’s my duty to be a good customer and ensure I’m not being rude to someone else. Follow this excuse me up with a thank you. It might actually put a smile on someone’s face.

Be courteous.