What the hell has happened?

Before I get into this post, I am going to lay out a few ground rules. If you are offended easily, GTFO! I am not going to name any companies for the fact that they could sue over this. This is all my personal opinion. I may be wrong, but this is some interesting facts to really think about. I am not looking to start a war, but feel free to disagree with this or provide some feedback of your own. This is about the society of where I live which is the United States of America. I do not know if this is accurate worldwide. Now onto the good stuff.

The question before me is "What the hell has happened to our society?" How have we become a society of self-centeredness and impatience? How have we become a society that we believe that we know everything and how dare someone tell me I am wrong? As a note here again, I am not saying that I am right, but again some interesting facts to think about.

The first item to cover is being sued. Seriously, what gives you the right to sue a homeowner if you break into their house and break your leg? What gives you the right to sue a company because you ordered a hot coffee and burned yourself on it? What gives you the right to sue a company because you eat there three times a day and do hardly any exercise and you get fat? What gives you the right to sue someone if you are agitating their dog and the dog bites you?
 
There are several factors that have helped shape our society into the mess that it is today. First fact to consider is the impatience. In my opinion, this is a result of a fast food chain that began to embrace the true essence of fast food. They began to deliver food rather quickly but then several other fast food chains wanted in on the pie. Thus began a war of how fast can we deliver the customer's food. Over several years, customers became accustomed to fast service and now how dare they have to wait. Fast food chains are not the only culprits of this, but are the biggest example. Grocery stores have also tried to ensure that customers will get in and out in record time. Gas stations have also adopted the same philosophy. So with all these places now offering fast service, why should we have to wait? We want it now!

The next fact is the self-centeredness. This came as a result of a major grocery/department store that offers lots of rollbacks. They first introduced the concept of the customer is always right, which is one of the most flawed policies ever. As this began to take effect, what would happen? Of course, the competitors would want in on the pie and would start saying that the customer is right and give them whatever. Over the years customers got used to this and began to believe that I am the most important person in this company and they will do whatever to get my business. So what if what I want breaks the law? I am the customer! I am right!

Next up is the belief that we know everything. There are several factors that just affect this one belief. The first factor of this is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This was intended to be an act to help bring the kids that were failing in school up to better grades. Instead, this act just lowered the standards and now public schools started giving these failing students passes to move on and graduate. It doesn't matter if you know the subject or not, you can still pass. Another factor that has affected this is that people are in general similar to a sponge. They soak up all kinds of knowledge. Without a proper education, people don't know what is fact and what is meant to be fiction. Add to this all of the trash that gets aired on TV. Add to this everything that gets put out on the Internet. What we come up with is that people begin to believe everything the TV or the Internet says. No matter how ridiculous something may seem, we will still believe it. Celebrity death hoaxes ring any bells?

Thanks to the Internet, information can spread like a wildfire. This happens whether the information is false or not. Thanks to the Internet, we can now spy on all our enemies and friends and know what they are doing. Why bother actually calling or visiting people anymore when you can spy on them?

Mix all of these facts together and you come up with a fairly accurate picture of what our society has become. You begin to see the grand spiral towards inevitable disaster. Is there any way to fix this?

The way to help solve this is to rise above. Go against the crowd. So what if you have to wait five extra seconds for your burger? It is not going to kill you. Just because you are a customer, don't take advantage of a business. Respect them and they will respect you. Don't believe everything you hear and see on TV and the Internet. Do some of your own research and find out whether this fact is true. That one friend you never talk to? Pick up the phone and call him. Or possibly just make some time and go hang out.

If our society continues in this spiral what kind of condition will the next generation be in? Do we just let them take care of our issues? Or do we take a stand and say no more?