Obnoxious behavior in Bethesda

[Anonymous]

I used to love going to Bethesda because it is so easy to navigate with children and hop from one activity to the the other. Lately, however, I find myself encountering people who are just generally rude, entitled, and obnoxious. In the past month, I've seen countless customers acting rude to their waiters, women in their 30s exchange needlessly harsh words over a perceived slight b/c one did not hold the door for the other, people literally huffing and puffing at the grocery store on line and groaning out loud in exasperation, women at Kidville garishly displaying their "push presents" and conversing about their latest designer logoed diaper bag (really this was a conversation). I could go on and on.

I guess I'm surprised b/c I didn't think that this is what Bethesda would be like. Spending time in downtown Bethesda now transplants me to some tacky part of Long Island where women with their monogrammed Louis Vuitton bags actually think they are fashionable.

I know this post is judgmental but I just had to vent!

[Anonymous]

I agree -- the tone there has changed a lot over the last ten years or so. Entitled nouveau-riche types.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, run ins with people like that aren't uncommon.

Just today I went to a 3 year old's birthday party at a park with a ride on train. We had bought all of our tickets in advance for everyone who had attended and we went and waited in line to board. Some mother who was buying her tickets at the ticket counter had a 4-5 year old daughter who was pitching a fit and kicking off because other people were boarding the train ahead of her.

The mother's solution was to butt in line, not only in front of the long line behind us but in between the family/friends of the party. This resulted in me, my sister, grandparents, dad, little brother, etc being unable to board the train and ride with the birthday boy. That was a HUGE bummer. Big time. On my part, on his grandparents and father's part, and on the little boy himself as he requested that I sit with him and I gave up my seat so his mom could ride with him to do (right thing to do, and I don't regret it, but I was pretty disappointed).

There was a big line and just because the ticket counter was by the entrance and her daughter was pitching a fit she felt entitled enough to cut. What a great lesson she was teaching her daughter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, run ins with people like that aren't uncommon.

Just today I went to a 3 year old's birthday party at a park with a ride on train. We had bought all of our tickets in advance for everyone who had attended and we went and waited in line to board. Some mother who was buying her tickets at the ticket counter had a 4-5 year old daughter who was pitching a fit and kicking off because other people were boarding the train ahead of her.

The mother's solution was to butt in line, not only in front of the long line behind us but in between the family/friends of the party. This resulted in me, my sister, grandparents, dad, little brother, etc being unable to board the train and ride with the birthday boy. That was a HUGE bummer. Big time. On my part, on his grandparents and father's part, and on the little boy himself as he requested that I sit with him and I gave up my seat so his mom could ride with him to do (right thing to do, and I don't regret it, but I was pretty disappointed).

There was a big line and just because the ticket counter was by the entrance and her daughter was pitching a fit she felt entitled enough to cut. What a great lesson she was teaching her daughter.

I would have said something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, run ins with people like that aren't uncommon.

Just today I went to a 3 year old's birthday party at a park with a ride on train. We had bought all of our tickets in advance for everyone who had attended and we went and waited in line to board. Some mother who was buying her tickets at the ticket counter had a 4-5 year old daughter who was pitching a fit and kicking off because other people were boarding the train ahead of her.

The mother's solution was to butt in line, not only in front of the long line behind us but in between the family/friends of the party. This resulted in me, my sister, grandparents, dad, little brother, etc being unable to board the train and ride with the birthday boy. That was a HUGE bummer. Big time. On my part, on his grandparents and father's part, and on the little boy himself as he requested that I sit with him and I gave up my seat so his mom could ride with him to do (right thing to do, and I don't regret it, but I was pretty disappointed).

There was a big line and just because the ticket counter was by the entrance and her daughter was pitching a fit she felt entitled enough to cut. What a great lesson she was teaching her daughter.

I would have said something.

I was extremely tempted. I was miffed when I saw her cut in line. Even more upset when I realized that her cutting contributed to the loss of our seats (and our tickets).

We were also partially unable to get seats due to 1-2 people taking up an entire bench, or one child or one adult sitting by themselves. I did audibly have a discussion about it in front of them, but people just did the oh so familiar blank stare and said nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were also partially unable to get seats due to 1-2 people taking up an entire bench, or one child or one adult sitting by themselves. I did audibly have a discussion about it in front of them, but people just did the oh so familiar blank stare and said nothing.

I can see your frustration, but that's a really bad tactic. It basically says you've already condemned them, and gives them zero incentive to change their behavior for the better--whereas asking them directly gives their better natures a chance to come to the surface, and preserves everyone's dignity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were also partially unable to get seats due to 1-2 people taking up an entire bench, or one child or one adult sitting by themselves. I did audibly have a discussion about it in front of them, but people just did the oh so familiar blank stare and said nothing.

I can see your frustration, but that's a really bad tactic. It basically says you've already condemned them, and gives them zero incentive to change their behavior for the better--whereas asking them directly gives their better natures a chance to come to the surface, and preserves everyone's dignity.

I don't know about condemning them, but in hindsight I should have just sucked it up and said something, and started asking for the entire group. But attempting to get seats for all the other kids (and making sure we didn't lose one) was difficult enough. It was basically mass confusion as soon as they started letting people in.

I did mention the possibility of asking around but that would have meant reshuffling which people did not seem open to that idea. I dropped the hint, then let it go. The train was about to leave and it was probably more important that the kids from our group get the chance to ride it then the adults. So we just squeezed them on there in a couple different cars with at least one adult (which ended up being an aunt and uncle and their kids) and with the birthday boy's mom since she obviously wanted to ride with her son and I just let it drop. At that point, I really did not feel like starting anything or dealing with people.

Hindsight is always 20/20 I guess.

I did ask if we'd be able to ride later without buying a new ticket, and the guy said yes. But we didn't get the chance.

[Anonymous]

OP here--it is a shame that people act like this. I still can't figure out why the egregious behavior happens so frequently in downtown Bethesda. I've lived in Arlington and various neighborhoods in DC and I've never witnessed the same level of obnoxiousness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here--it is a shame that people act like this. I still can't figure out why the egregious behavior happens so frequently in downtown Bethesda. I've lived in Arlington and various neighborhoods in DC and I've never witnessed the same level of obnoxiousness.

Just goes to show that money can't buy class.

[Anonymous]

I agree - I used to work in downtown Bethesda and really didn't enjoy it. Sure, not everyone is a jerk but there seem to be plenty there. I also have some really nice colleagues and friends who live in Bethesda, so I'm not condemning the whole area, but it's definitely not for me.

[Anonymous]

Is this a real post?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this a real post?

Not sure why you think this is a fake post?

[Anonymous]

I've gotta say...the drivers in downtown Bethesda are the worst! When we lived there (5 years ago) I didn't have a car and walked everywhere....pretty treacherous for pedestrians! It was worse than my years in NYC. I think it might be all of the bratty teenagers driving around thinking they're hot s**t but it drove me absolutely crazy.

[Anonymous]

You also see some pretty rude entitled behavior in Potomac Village-it's almost funny how many people are walking around with their noses in the air.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here--it is a shame that people act like this. I still can't figure out why the egregious behavior happens so frequently in downtown Bethesda. I've lived in Arlington and various neighborhoods in DC and I've never witnessed the same level of obnoxiousness.

Just goes to show that money can't buy class.

"...
Elegance is learned, my friends
Elegance is learned, oh yeah..."