There's a Lithuanian saying that translates directly into English as "If you don't spin, you won't live," which means you have to adapt to survive. However, there's a line between prioritizing your own needs and taking advantage of others. And there's a subreddit that can help everyone draw it.
It's called 'Entitled People,' and folks go there to share stories from their lives about those who think the rules don't apply to them. A recent post by platform user Fiyero- is especially infuriating.
In it, the Redditor called a man who got their TV delivered to his place by accident, and used every trick in the book to keep it.
After a mishap during the delivery, this person's TV ended up in another man's hands
Image credits: Rachel Claire (not the actual photo)
And he decided to hold it hostage, giving the worst excuses you could imagine
Image credits: Claudio Schwarz (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Marília Castelli (not the actual photo)
Eventually, the police got involved
Image credits: Michael Förtsch (not the actual photo)
But even after the whole ordeal, the man refused to admit any wrongdoing
Image credits: Fiyero-
The probability of Amazon failing to deliver a package to the correct address is quite small
Image credits: Super Straho (not the actual photo)
Understandably, it's quite frustrating to be waiting for an Amazon delivery, only for it to be delayed, or as it was in this case, for it to be taken somewhere else. As a result, the thrill you get from bagging a great deal can quickly fade away and turn into an annoying headache instead.
However, if we zoom out and take a look at the big picture, that's quite rare. According to US Global Mail, the percentage of Amazon failing to deliver a package to the correct address is less than 1%.
Still, with 1.6 million deliveries every single day, that means there's a large number of people (not relative to the number of successful deliveries) who are left scratching their heads and trying to track down what they ordered just like Fiyero-. Up to 16,000, to be exact.
It's hard to explain the man's behavior but it may stem from insecurity
Image credits: Nicola Barts (not the actual photo)
It's clear that the man who got the TV felt like he had the right to claim it. Winning an award or haphazardly "lucking out" over something might result in people seeing themselves as special and better than others—and therefore entitled.
The entitlement mentality is defined as a sense of deservingness or being owed a favor when little or nothing has been done to deserve special treatment, or in other words, it's the "you owe me" attitude.
Entitlement is a narcissistic personality trait, and it's not known exactly how it develops, but, like most other aspects of human nature, it's probably a combination of environment and biological makeup.
In a blog for the Christian Science Monitor, Trent Hamm writes that a pervasive sense of entitlement can backfire, leading to the opposite of what one wants. Instead of feeling special, people can lose everything from friends to business opportunities. Being respectful of other people's needs and wishes, while not neglecting our own, can lead to much more desirable results.
However, there's still hope for the opportunistic man in this Reddit post. In a review of five studies on entitlement, Paul Piff points out an interesting finding: that both narcissism and entitlement can be decreased when admired leaders model a more respectful stance towards others. He believes that adults, like children, can learn to manage feelings of entitlement in a healthier, more productive manner.
As the story went viral, it received a bunch of different reactions
