Entitlements

What is it about people today that makes so many so extremely egocentric and demanding? Why do so many people today feel they are entitled to things without working for them?

Last night I witnessed a disturbing incident of such presumed entitlement. I was standing in line at the "will call" window at the box office to pick up my tickets for the evening's performance. An expensively dressed young woman was standing at one of the windows throwing a major fit because she didn't like the location of the tickets she was getting and she thought the box office should upgrade them to a better location. What was particularly interesting is that they were $98 (each) tickets and she wanted to be moved to the $175 (each) section; further, she had not bought and paid for these tickets; they were "comps"—free tickets that had been given to her from amongst unsold ticket inventory. After this young woman thoroughly berated the window clerk for not upgrading her, she got a box office manager to come over. The manager, with far greater patience and politeness than I would have shown, calmly explained again to her that these were free tickets, that the marketing office had chosen them not the box office, and that he would be happy to upgrade her two tickets to the section she wanted for $350. She snatched away the free tickets, saying in no uncertain terms that she was not about to give them any money, and stormed off to the performance. When I saw her again in the auditorium, her free tickets were better than mine! I certainly hope that they blacklist her and never, ever give her another comp ticket.

I was always raised to be grateful for gifts and favors, especially when they inconvenience the giver. Yet, people today feel free to make further demands on givers and do not seem to feel the need to extend what I consider to be common courtesy.

Am I just hopelessly old fashioned and out of touch?