Monday, January 18, 2010

Grouches in paradise, take two

Why the heck is everyone so grumpy when they are vacationing in Hawaii?

Our own family stabilized after the first day or so, and went back to the same mix of happy and unhappy that we enjoy at home. We've encountered a few other cheerful tourists, but for the most part everyone seems to be having a genuinely unpleasant time.

Never mind that the weather has been a perfect 80 degrees here all week. Or that most of us here have nothing on the agenda all day except eat/lie on beach/eat/drink/splash in pool/drink/lie in sun/eat/listen to relaxing music/eat/sleep.

I'd like to suppose that everyone is simply feeling depressed about the earthquake in Haiti, but it seems to me that what's really bugging them is:

They have to wait in line to buy a sandwich.

Or, they wish the elevator didn't have to stop on anyone else's floor on the way down to the lobby.

Or, they are walking to the beach and they have to wait for me to scoot one of my children out of their way so they can pass us on the sidewalk. (Never have I or my children been the recipient of so many dirty looks simply for existing. I mean, I can sort of understand. How dare I bring kids to a place with beaches, swimming pools, and shave ice? What could I have possibly been thinking?)

Because this is their vacation, dammit, and just because there are a couple hundred thousand other tourists on Waikiki, everyone else should just move over, because they are in Hawaii and it's supposed to be relaxing and fun!

4 comments:

Cassie said...

I never understood why it is that people on vacation are in such bad moods. You would think that they are in mellow vacation mode so the kids' antics wouldn't faze them.

John said...

Sounds like everyday when we lived in New York.

(her name is Torrie) said...

All these people you're seeing must be Americans. Can we be any other way?

Ruth said...

Cassie: my theory is people just have really high expectations for their tropical vacation, and when everything isn't perfect they start getting pissy.

Diane: 30 Rock, Season One, Cleveland. Have you seen it? It has a great scene in which Liz is walking in the city talking about how much she loves New York.

Torrie: In fact, it seems that people come from all over the world to be grumpy in Hawaii, but I'd say Americans are the most common offenders.