America's Privileged

America doesn't have defined royalty with kings, queens, princes, etc. But, we have celebrity royalty and the people who believe that they are privilege. No caste system exists in the U.S. but with some money and attitude some people think that they are above rules. Let's not even discuss Paris, Lindsey, and Nichole Richie. I don't have to mention their last names and you know the royalty that I am talking.

But, other Americans watch so much TV and believe that they just need to be the style to be G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S (Did you sing the song while reading the word? If not, then you missed out - it has a good beat.). Some Americans believe that they just need the neck roll, facial expressions, and the silly bumblebee-cover-up-my-face sunglasses even while inside to get whatever they want. Here are two examples from my trip this week, both within a couple of hours.

Story 1: Manchester, NH and the Northeast in general are not going to be fashion setting. They don't set the trends up there and they generally don't follow the trends. They do not care as long as the Patriots and the Red Sox do well. When teenagers try to fit with the hip Paris look they stand out. This girl was with her family in the airport eating McD's (that's trendy) looking bored and unentertained as she can be. But, she had the glasses and the look, so she was cool. The dad ignored her, but I figured out where she got it from when her mom returned. Her mom tried for the look but there are some times when skin should not be on display. Good, soft skin is good, but wrinkly, folded old-tattoo skin, I don't need to see.

Story 2: When you get on an airplane, you are bombarded with several announcements. 1 - when the boarding door is closed, you must turn the cell phone off. 2 - bags must fit in the overhead or underneath the seat in front of you. 3 - if you sit with no seat in front of you (bulkhead seat - usually first row) then all items must go in overhead. I have set up the story - can you guess the next parts? A woman with her trendy look sits down in Row 1. She puts her big bag at her seat. The flight attendant tells her that the bag has to go in the overhead. She sits there (I won't say ignoring her yet). The captain comes by a few minutes later and notices that she still has the bag there. Instead of asking, he tells he that he will put the bag up for her. The woman rolls her eyes as he puts the bag up. Privileged try didn't work. But, the story wouldn't be worth mentioning if that was it - that story is true even for us commoners. After the boarding door is closed, during the other talk where we learn how to use the overly-complicated seat belts on an airplane, her cell phone rings. At first, she doesn't react, until the flight attendants stops the broadcast to remind her that her phone must be off. Privilege attempt number 2 didn't work. Her weak response was that she thought it was off. She didn't try for a third which would have been to answer the phone (I have seen that try before but not the other day).

If I tell my wife these stories, then she tells me that I am judgmental. If she reads it here instead, maybe she will think it's funny (or true). I can hope, right? I am not judgmental. I enjoy being a sociologist while traveling. I wish I was as good with the one-liners as Dennis Miller or Bill Maher.

Watching people while traveling is fun. The having to sit and be squished into a seat and wait like herded cattle gets very old though, along with waiting for 30 minutes to pick up your bag.