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It may be a bit hard to see the point of this photo. It was taken today in the taxi pick-up point just outside our local Morrisons supermarket. In fact the vehicle you can see parked there is, indeed, a taxi. This in itself is unusual because I don’t think I’ve ever seen one there before. The small pick up area is usually filled with three empty cars left there by typical ‘fuck yous’ who are too selfish to use the actual car park that starts on the other side of the roadway. This is because they are ’special’ and not because they are unable to read.
Even more special on this sunny afternoon, was the person who dropped the used disposable nappy that you can see lying in the road. They were really special – much too special to walk to the nearest bin which, I assure you, is about 5 yards away (that’s 4.572 metres for Jake). Whoever this was who took the term ‘disposable’ too literally, really didn’t just say ‘fuck you’. They said ‘fuck the lot of you – especially the guy who has got to pick it up and dispose of it properly’.
In my original ‘Fuck You’ item (which you can read here), I partly blamed this attitude on the 1980’s Thatcher years which saw a mini-social revolution in the promotion of selfish behaviour. I say ‘partly’ because I also suggested more recent problems stoking the fires. For this I was taken to task by a commenter named Maria who said ‘…the ’80s were crap, but they just weren’t that influential. Until we start looking to now and ceasing the priggish, hypocritical nonsense about the prat ’80s, we’re going nowhere‘. I repeat this here because I didn’t really follow the comment then and still don’t. 
But I assume in some oblique way she partly meant that I feel morally superior to people who drop used nappies in supermarket car parks – and people who park their cars like BMW Man in the other photo. Well Maria – you’re damn right I do.
This car has appeared along with new neighbours in the road. As you can see, it totally covers the footpath. Do I care – well yes. It’s inconsiderate and selfish – but I can walk around it through the muddy grass. I’m not so sure about the physically handicapped people who live further up the street. Getting their wheelchairs around that may be a problem. And then there’s one of our friends from around the corner who is blind and will wonder what on earth her guide dog is doing puling her off the path.
But hey – fuck ‘em.
Andy,
You’re absolutely wrong, I know a number of people who ‘know’ that the axis the earth rotates about actually passes right through their body, therefore what they think or do is important, and what you and I think or do is not relevant, as time passes and I move ever closer to full ‘grumpy old man’ status, I realise they out-number me…….
re bmw..its what nitromors was invented for!..people need to understand there are consequences for actions.
Could you spray said nitromors up the wheel arch? I’m sure the guide dog would oblige but it won’t get as much attention.
This sort of thing makes my blood boil. As soon as I saw the first photo I found myself thinking. ‘I know why he’s taken that. That’s a disposable nappie!’ I see it too often. I hate the bastards that do that and they are raising kids too. While I’m now fuming alongside you Andy; another fuck you that’s really gets me… people who WON’T pick up after their dogs when they take them for walks. Just this last week my boys and I have trod dog poop almost every day into the house. You have to walk across a narrow green area to get from the parking bay; no other way to do it and at night you cannot see what you are stepping into. So I waited and watched. Sure enough along comes Mr. fuck you (he’s known to be of this mindset even before he acquired his new pet) and stops to let his dog leave his nightly gift for us before strolling off home without batting an eyelid. So I took out a Tesco bag (appropriate I thought) and some rubber gloves and knocked on his door saying "You dropped something outside my house and I thought you’d like too have it back. I’ve quite enough of it on my hall carpet already thank you."
I can’t say for sure when this "FUG" (Eff-You Generation) began across The Pond…but over here in the Colonies it started in the Sixties. You remember the "If It Feels Good, Do It" mindset? People began thinking, what the hell does anyone else matter…I’m improving my MIND, my consciousness…I’m experiencing life, I’m progressing to a higher freakin’ plane. If you don’t like it, well…EFF YOU…
When we started advancing children in school who had not done homework or learned anything because it would be "socially traumatizing" to hold them back, when we not only supported multi-generational families on the public dole but ENCOURAGED the subsidizing of their entire lives by making it easy for them because we required nothing in return, when we dropped "accountability" and "consequences" from our vocabularies, when tots were given the ability to sue their parents for disciplining them, when television programs and movies fostered the notion that lippy, arrogant teens were so much more cool than parents and authority…we cultivated an environment where the individual is more important than the group, or any other individual for that matter. What did Spock say in the 2nd Star Trek movie? "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few…or the one"…? Not anymore…MY needs outweigh anyone else’s…and if you don’t like it, you can lump it.
Pity…because once people went out of their way to think of others, to do for others. Consideration, courtesy, kindness…those words are no longer thought about or spoken, I doubt there are even some who know what they are. It’s a sad commentary on our world where we have progressed technologically, we’re healthier, smarter, live longer…but we are NOT better people.
thud: Noooooo! I’ve got a BMW……
Andy…o.k. the caps back on the nitromors.
Amusing post. I grew up in England, probably around the same time as you.
I left in ‘81 because of bad behavior like you describe and also because of complainers like you (not that I’m complaining, just stating a fact).
You might want to check out a growing (and HUGE) movement to try to quell complaining because it’s not only futile, it’s also bad for your health.
Here’s some info about it and a shameless link to my blog.
http://higginbottom.com/a-complaint-free-world/
All the best,
Paul.
(Formerly from England, now in Florida – sunny weather gives me one less thing to complain about!)
Oh and you know what they say about the difference between porcupines and BMWs? Porcupines have the pricks on the outside.
If no one ever complained about anything, there’d be no progress at all…
And if Andy never complained again, what would I read in the mornings and how would I laugh??
Jansy
bitkahuna » You started out Ok and then insult me because of the car I drive.
As to complaining: It is an art form and I am very good at it.
Jansy » Thank you Jansy. Although I have to say that complaining is a bit of a British disease. But I don’t care to be insulted by a rat who left the sinking ship. Some rats had to stay behind after all.
Ah well THAT explains it, then. I’m half English…
now this "But hey – fuck ‘em." ending of yours made me laugh
the worst thing about these ’special’ people is that they never learn. the prick will get a ticket from cops but he still will walk around saying that system is after him and ‘pigs’ can go to hell..