Pet Peeve #248, Mostly In Run-On Sentences.

If you were at a reception and you put some cheese and crackers on your plate and then you walked away from the table to go and talk to your friends and while you were talking to your friends you were eating and suddenly one of your crackers fell on the ground…

Would you pick it up and dispose of it out of respect for the venue and the people who work there, as well as to show others around you that you not only are aware of what’s going on around you but also that you are a responsible resident of earth who cares about doing the right thing, OR…

Would you give it a half-glance before looking at your plate to see what you had left to eat, and then continue chatting and laughing with those around you, figuring that someone else would pick up the fallen cracker eventually?

I watched two crackers fall at an event yesterday, each from the plate of someone different. In both cases, the latter scenario came into play. And so I ask you, “What is wrong with people??”

20 Comments

  • Shannon

    I don’t know what I would do because I can’t recall that happening to me specifically, which is odd because I do drop a lot of stuff, especially in formal-ish reception-type situations. I’d like to think I would pick up the cracker, though. I am surprised especially that people would just leave it on the floor when others are watching.

    I do admit to leaving fruit on the floor of the grocery store when it drops, though, but that’s mostly so another customer doesn’t buy it.

    • Melisa

      I am certain they didn’t see me watching them: if they had, they probably would have picked up the crackers. I like to think so, anyway!

  • Tara R.

    I would pick the food up and throw it away because that’s how my momma raised me. The first time I saw someone do this, I might not say anything, especially if I wasn’t standing close by. The second time I would pick it up and throw it away myself. Maybe even hand it back to the person who dropped it. Meh!

    I know what you mean though. These are probably the same people who through empty bags of fast food trash out of their car windows.

  • Lisa

    People are idiots, and rude. Consideration is dying out, along with kindness and customer service… And appreciation for run-on sentences.

    • Melisa

      Gah, I hate poor customer service. I want to go back to the sixties where customer service is concerned. And gas stations. I miss full service.

  • HouseofJules

    These are the same people who leave the label peels from the priority mail envelopes and their postage receipts laying around at the post office when a trash can is 2 feet away. SO ANNOYING.

  • As Cape Cod Turns

    I even pick things up at grocery stores that have fallen off the shelves from other people!!! Rudness and entitlement drive me nuts! Maybe you should have stepped on the cracker and then told them that they dropped it 🙂

  • Heather

    Wow, are people really that dense? I never realized that dropping a cracker and expecting the people who clean there or someone else to pick it up was considered acceptable! My god.