For the most part, I’m in the camp that people are basically good.  I think that’s a safe assumption to make in most cases.  Okay…  Maybe it isn’t safe, but I’ll amend my statement to at least say that it’s the right assumption to make.

Then little things happen that tick me off and make me lose faith.  I probably only get grumpy like this once or twice a year, but it does happen and then I get over it.

You know I only have one ear left that hears, so my wife in her supreme goodness got me a set of Crioxen earplugs, so when it’s loud, I can throw one in my good ear to keep it protected.  They go in a nice case that I have clipped to my backpack so I can just grab one pretty quickly.

Well, I’m out at the ServiceNow conference this week, and it’s very loud all the time.  They’ve got DJs situated everywhere, and the murmur is constant, so I’ve got them hooked on the backpack as usual.

One would assume the attendees at conferences like this are professionals… relatively higher class.  Not crumbums, so to speak.  But I sat down at a session and went to grab something out of my backpack, and the buds were gone.  If I were out in the city or something for the general public, I might have expected that, but seriously?  Here?  Plus, it’s earplugs.  That’s just gross… I wouldn’t ever steal someone else’s earwax, but that’s essentially what someone has done.

I’ve never understood people being jerks just for the sake of being a jerk.  If you’re hungry and steal bread, that’s one thing.  If you’re addicted to medication and you steal that, still bad, but I understand you’re not in a place to make a reasonable decision.  This is silly.  No one needs earplugs.  The only reason to steal them is just because you want something that’s not yours.  That doesn’t make sense and is inherently bad.

All I’ve done here is complain.  That’s a fair thing to do at this point.

I like to pride myself on being able to see all the sides of a situation… so, let me try.  Maybe someone thought it WAS medication?  Maybe their ears were hurting from the noise and they really, really NEEDED some plugs.  I don’t know.  I’ll ruminate on it and see what else I can come up with.

Sigh.  Now to find a new set…