The Curmudgeon Cometh

So I’m at the convenience store, and I have to wait and wait in line because some guy is buying his lottery tickets.  And, you know, now, that there are about as many types of the scratch form of lottery tickets as there are choices of cheese in the supermarket.  

I have someplace to be, buddy.   Well I really don’t – but I’m being irked.

Another thing – when I am in traffic and I stop to let a car into the flow, I want the wave from the driver I have just accommodated and given some love and help.   How many people don’t give me the wave is beyond me.  Really, it boggles the mind. 

Now I’m at Starbucks.   There are two people in front of me at the station where is parked the nonfat milk, whole milk, and half-and-half, sugar and other sweeteners, stirrers, straws … etc.   They are amiably chatting and not focused on fixing their drinks.

And I am waiting. 

Any day, now, people, I have someplace to be.  Well I really don’t.   But I’m being irked. 

Another thing, and let’s stay with Starbucks here, the store near the Easton/Brockton line on Belmont Street/Rte. 123.  Next to the front window of the store are two comfy upholstered stuffed chairs.  I covet these chairs for a place I can sit with an iced coffee, a sweet, and a laptop computer (linked to the Starbucks free Wi-Fi). 

Here is the "Ross Muscato Rule" as it applies to those chairs.  If you are sitting in one of those chairs, from the time you finish your beverage or sandwich or scone or whatever, you have a 15 minute grace period to remain in the chair.  After that 15 minutes then you must either vacate the chair or buy something. 

Can anyone explain to me, please, why during the day, when there are sidewalks wide and clean, and no one using them, and you are a runner, that you need to run on the streets, closer to the traffic than if you had been running on the sidewalk?  Huh? 

I can understand at night, if you are out running – and in this case you better be wearing reflective or other types of illuminating gear – because you might not be able to properly evaluate the footprint in front of you on a sidewalk while striding, that you want to be alongside the street and closer to streetlights – but in in daytime when you can see footfall, and you have a clear sidewalk, and you choose to run in the street – no, not something to which I can sign on to. 

Another thing, if you are at a restaurant, and the service is at least good and considerate and caring, and you don’t tip 20 percent (and here I am inspired by something the humorist Dave Barry wrote), then you are not a nice person. 

That’s my column for today.