The Rise of the Miserable Majority

In this episode of The Purple Kool-Aid Podcast, I dive headfirst into something that’s been bothering me for a while: why are so many people just plain mean these days?

From women shoulder-checking me in public to pushy, self-entitled patients at my day job, I break down what it feels like to navigate a world where kindness is rare and attitudes are nasty. Whether it’s complexion bias, classist arrogance, or just plain emotional nastiness, I’m sharing real stories and real frustration.

This isn’t just a vent session — it’s a reality check. People are walking around with ugly energy, rude behavior, and inflated egos with nothing to back them up. I talk about how being mean AND needy is not a flex, how people misjudge others based on surface-level nonsense, and why a smile and a little respect still go a long way.

And if you’re one of those people who thinks you’re better than someone just because of where you live, who you date, or how much money you make… this one might sting.

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and more. Just search “The Purple Kool-Aid Podcast.”

Transcript

One of the things that I want to talk to you about first today that has been on my mind and that is bothering me is, and I think it’s just really weird, is how mean people are right now. I don’t know if it’s because maybe people are meaner to me because I’m not young and carefree or maybe because I’m not young and carefree, I’m noticing it more.

One of the things, if you’ve ever seen any of my other videos, you will notice that I say, I hate the whole, “Oh, back in the day, things were like this,” and “Back in the day, things were like that” notion, or “Things used to be like this,” or “Things used to be like that,” and I hate that whole—everything that is surrounded by—because to me, it’s almost like a cop-out.

You’re just copping out on society, change, growth, when you succumb to the notion that everything sucks right now and everything was wonderful when you were a child. But people are really mean out here—really mean.

I’ve had, in the past two years, I’ve had three women shoulder-check me, and I don’t know if you know what shoulder-checking means. Well, at least that’s what I call it. So I was walking by them, or they were walking by me—more or less they were walking by me—because I would see them coming towards me, so I would stop when they got within a certain distance where I felt like they were going to run into me. And even with time for them to move and them not being on the phone or anything at all, they have shoulder-checked me—like they ran right into me—as if they were going to run me over like a bulldozer.

They were all a certain type of woman. I hadn’t had a man do it. They were all a certain complexion of woman. And I’m not going to say what complexion of woman they were, but I’m going to just say that they were a lot lighter than me. Now, they don’t know that I have been boxing, been in boxing, that I was in the military, and that I’ve actually knocked the whole big old dude out in the club. Because I got some skills—I really could have probably whooped their ass real good—but I just kind of was like, “Eh, okay, that’s what we’re doing now.”

They didn’t say excuse me. They did it on purpose, almost like they’re going to show me something—not even knowing what kind of crazy person I am or I could be, right? But they did this.

I have spoken to people a lot and they have just stared me right in the face—whether they were younger, older, Black, white, green, purple, Puerto Rican, Haitian, Chinese, African-American, or Caucasian, or no matter what they were. I’ve experienced it from everyone.

There are some really mean people out here. And the crazy thing is that it used to be—or it seemed like this to me and y’all can let me know—it seemed to me like there were maybe in a hundred people, like two or three of them were really mean or rude. Or maybe let’s even give it 10 to 15. But it seems like to me lately, out of a hundred people, like 92 of them are really mean and rude.

92% of a hundred people—of a hundred percent of people—are mean, rude. A lot of people are walking around with these units on their face. Now, when I say unit on their face, I mean they’re just like—they just look like they ate a whole entire pile of dog shit, right? And a lot of them—the crazy—a lot of them really are ugly.

And I’m not, you know, I don’t think I’m cute. Well, I was cute, you know. I’m older now. But a lot of them, they’re already ugly, and then they’ve got these ugly looks on their face, and it’s just making them even more ugly. And then they have an attitude. And then they’re mean. It’s almost like they have nothing to offer the world but negativity.

I don’t understand. And you look at them and you could smile at them—like, most people don’t even smile anymore.

I understand there is a circus going on in the United States right now. I haven’t been to another country in a long time. When I did go to other countries, I don’t remember a lot of people smiling. I do remember that being something more akin to being in the United States—people saying hello, excuse me, thank you, manners.

I noticed it in young people—not necessarily kids. It almost makes me feel like—I can understand why Michael Jackson wanted to be around children. Hey, you know, I don’t know if anything happened or what happened. If it did, you know, excuse me for that. But who wants to be around these people?

A lot of you are miserable. You look miserable. You act miserable. And I feel like a lot of you are just going to have heart attacks and die, or your liver is just going to eat itself up or something. I mean, you just look like you hate life.

And some of you are barking up the wrong tree. A lot of you are trying people that could literally drag you and beat the shit out of you. And you think that because you’re living in this circus that it’s okay and you’re going to get away with it.

And some people are just miserable and mad.

I understand having a bad day every once in a while—I mean, I’ve had a lot of bad days. But I don’t take it out on people that I don’t know. Right?

I don’t know what’s wrong with people. A lot of us were taught, “Excuse me. Thank you. Please.”

I saw a man open the door for a man the other day and held it open for the longest—and this guy just walked right through the door and never even said thank you. I felt like dude should have kicked him in his face after that.

Some of y’all are rude as hell. No manners. You’re a bad example of humanity and society. And a lot of you are very selfish.

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Outside of that—like even in my day job—I deal with people and I meet with people every day. And it’s funny because, you know, I talked about the women shoulder-checking me and that was a certain complexion of women that were lighter than me.

And then it’s funny, I’ve been in my job a little over a year and I’ve had three women leave me urgent messages. Now, mind you, I speak with about 50 people a week during the transactions that I have and I like helping people. So I try to help these people.

I really have an affinity for older people. I really try to help them. But in the past year I’ve had—out of, and I’m not going to tell you what my occupation is, but I’ll tell you that it’s in the medical field, right? Well, it is this time, because I’ve had all types of positions and done all types of things—but in the past year, I’ve had three women that were a lot darker than me—and I’m a Black woman—and they have left me urgent messages on my answering machine, had no regard whatsoever for the other people that I was taking care of, or my time. And they were just bullies, right?

They just felt like they were special. And the messages that they left on my answering machine were not urgent at all. They just felt like they needed attention. They deserve attention. And they were going to get it right then and there. And I’m going to leave that part over there.

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It surprised me. I’m a statistics-numbers person. So everything to me in my head, I kind of assimilate to a number or I’ll put a number to it. I do that constantly. I’m always analyzing situations and comparing them numerically.

So, for example, someone will tell me, “Oh, do you want to upgrade your Netflix account?” and that’s going to cost you $6.99—and this is, I’m not endorsing Netflix, it’s just a damn example, right? So it’s going to cost you $6.99 more a month. I will sit there and I’ll say to myself, “Okay, well what is $6.99 a month to me? That’s what—two Red Bulls? Yeah, I’ll take that.”

So anyway, that’s just—I’m just letting you know how I think. So that’s why I’m always looking at situations the way that I do.

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Now that I’m on that—talking about people being mean and mad and disrespectful—let’s talk more about my job.

I walk out of my office and I wonder how in the hell anyone comes home to you. Like, you are just a bitch. You’re rude. You’re entitled. You’re spoiled. And the ones that get me the most are the ones who are mean and needy. Mean and needy.

Like how in the hell can you be mean and needy? Don’t become mean and needy. It’s not a working combination and you need to pick a struggle—because if you’re mean, no one is going to help you. And if you think that bullying people and being mean to them and pushy to them is going to cause them or make them help you? Let me tell you something, sis—it’s not. Because people are savvy, right?

The meaner you are to me, the less I’m going to do for you. I don’t care who you tell. I don’t care who you yell to. I will find a way. And this goes for call center employees or any people who service other people.

If you are mean to a call center person, they are going to find a way to help you less—believe it or not. And they’re going to become numb.

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I don’t like the analogy, “You get more bees with honey,” but guess what? You get more bees with honey. You really do.

For example, I have the ability in the position I’m in to go above and beyond. So it’s not necessarily me doing less for you, but I’m not going to do as much. And that’s what people do. That’s how people handle mean people in circumstances where they don’t have any choice but to deal with you. If you’re mean, they find ways to not do extra for you.

Right?

So when a person is nice to me—when a person is mean to me—so when a person is mean to me, I do my job. Now, I give a level of service that is a lot better than a lot of people because I’m a workaholic and I’m a perfectionist in some things. I like going the extra mile.

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But say, for example, you’re a jerk or you’re an asshole or you’re a bitch to me and you keep pushing me, you know—and maybe you wanted to be in this spot—but I also have a sweet old lady who’s 80 years old who comes at me and she’s nice and she’s respectful and she gives me time to do what I need to do and she’s not pushy and needy…

And say on a given day—and this happens all the time—both of you are asking me to come in at the same time and neither one of you have extenuating circumstances that would make me choose you over the other one—and you’re the bitch?

Who do you think I’m going to put in that spot? The bitch or the person who’s nice?

Like really?

So if you’re in a situation and you have two equally yoked people with the same circumstances—except one is nice and one is mean, pushy, or a bully, or needy—or I should say needy with no reason to be needy…

Because don’t take the context “needy” out of context, because some people don’t have a choice. They really do need. I’m not talking about people who really need extra care—because those people, I’m going to go way, way, way, way, way above and beyond for.

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I’m talking about people who don’t need any extra care—but they think they do because their fucking parents didn’t teach them any better, or their husband spoiled them, or they think because they got a little bit of money—or maybe even a whole lot of money—that entitles them to something.

So if it’s between you and that nice old lady, or even that nice man, or that nice respectful person who treated me with dignity and respect—who’s going to get that spot?

Bitch, it’s not going to be you, no matter how much money you got.

So you need to pick a struggle, right?

You can either be needy or mean. You can’t be mean and needy.

And then the crazy thing about it is a lot of y’all are mean, needy, and ugly.

Mean, needy, and ugly.

I don’t even know how anybody puts up with you because you have no redeeming qualities. Maybe you came from a rich family—nobody cares.

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And that’s another thing.

So people come into my office all the time and they’re like—they want to… I’m going to just put it like this. I’m not going to make this about me: Don’t talk down to people, no matter what position you see them in. And I’m going to tell you why.

A lady walked in my office the other day looking like who knows what—told me she does greeting at Walmart a couple of days a week. Looked like she didn’t have a whole dime in any of her pockets and never has.

And I began talking to that lady—and that lady had been all over the world. Travelled, has a bank account full of money, and is a greeter at Walmart because that’s what she likes to do to get out of the house. And you would never know—no jewelry, no nothing, no makeup, no cosmetic surgery, no nothing. Very nice lady. She had a little attitude at first, but…

You’re misjudging people, and you don’t know who you’re talking to.

I meet people telling me about, “Oh, you know”—they talk down to me and they have an attitude and they’re like, “Oh yeah, I live here and I live there.”

They don’t know what I’ve done.

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I had a guy the other day—very uppity—you know, the ones who drink wine with their pinky finger in the air. Bougie negro in my office. Sometimes they’re the worst—talking down to me.

And then asked me—somehow we got in a conversation of what have I done before. And because he had an attitude and was talking down to me, I said:

“Oh, I used to write music.”

And he goes, “Well, name the most famous person that you’ve ever met or worked with,” right?

And he was a little bit older than me, right? And I said, “Sure. Isaac Hayes. I was a writer with his record label. A signed, paid writer.”

It gave me so much joy to say that. He almost fell off his seat and his whole attitude changed.

I go, “Do you know who he is?”

“Oh yeah, I know who he is.”

And I pulled up my phone and I showed him a picture of us at his birthday party.

Now, mind you, I don’t like name-dropping. I don’t like doing that. Most people that I meet—they never know that I’ve done anything like that. And it doesn’t make me any better than anybody. I don’t care.

But he was so condescending and mean to me. And when he talked himself into that opportunity for me to downsize him?

I relished the moment.
I cherished the moment.

You should have seen him. And he was ready to get up and go.

He goes, “Oh, you were in that lifestyle,” and he walked out with his attitude—but it was like he still had an attitude, but it was a whole different attitude.

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I meet women and they’re like, “Oh, you know, my husband this, and my husband that, and my this-this and this-and-that”—like they’re the only woman in the world who’s ever dated a man with a whole lot of money or millions.

You don’t know who you’re talking to when you’re being rude and mean, right?

So you need to chill.

You really need to chill.

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Being mean to people—it doesn’t benefit anyone.
It doesn’t benefit you.

Negative energy—because that’s what you’re giving off when you make these nasty little faces and when you don’t say “excuse me,” and when you’re mean to people, and when you’re entitled, or when you think that you’re better than people because—I don’t know—you were born over here, or you look like this, or you have this much money, or for whatever reason that you think or begin to believe that you are better than someone, or that someone is beneath you…

No one is beneath you.

It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or what you’ve earned or how hard you have worked. Not saying those aren’t good things to do—those are definitely good things to do—but you’re not better than anyone.

And y’all need to stop being so mean.

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I know it’s hard out here for some of y’all. I’m kind of getting into something else right now. I know it’s hard for some of y’all working in these jobs where these people come in and they’re mean and needy and condescending to you all the time.

But don’t give up. Don’t stop doing a good job.

Try not to let these motherfuckers get to you, okay?

Keep doing a good job for the people who appreciate you. You’re going to feel better at the end of the day—or at least so far, that’s how I feel, and that’s what I feel works for me.

Smile at somebody sometime. Say thank you. Say please. Open the door.

I don’t understand—people are running around here like a bunch of mad gorillas or some kind of animal with no personality. Just like—maybe like what they call a reptilian brain. And I don’t want to get into any conspiracy theory or anything—but you guys are running around here very selfish, just hateful, and it’s ugly.

And I think people need to do better.

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It doesn’t matter what kind of circus we’re living in—there’s no excuse.

Of course, if someone—if you’re going through something, if someone has died in your family, or you can’t pay your bills, or you have a terminal illness, or you’re in pain—yeah, run around looking like you’re mad then. Or you just lost your job—and many people are going through a lot of things right now, right?

But all y’all motherfuckers are not hurting and in pain.
You’re just mean, unevolved, and you’re just icky.

So people need to change that.

I would love to see more people happy.
More people smiling.
More people helping each other.

Because that’s how I remember people to be.

Maybe even before COVID. Maybe it was this COVID thing that made everybody separate. I don’t know. I can’t even begin—I analyze a lot of shit, but I don’t know what the answer is or why people got like this. I don’t know if it’s the politics or the political thing. But we all live here.

Everything that I do—you do—it all affects everyone.

Do the best that you can.
Be the best that you can.

And that’s all I’m going to say on this video.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to get another video out tonight. I don’t know—it’s getting kind of late, and I like going to bed early because I get up early.

But I hope that somebody gained something from this.

This is Lois Lane Miami on the Purple Kool-Aid Podcast, and I will see you on the next video.

Thank you so much for watching.
Bye.