Stomper calls out long list of people who assume, judge and comment 'without reading'

Straits Times

08-05-2025

Stomper calls out long list of people who assume, judge and comment 'without reading'
Welcome to Stomping Ground - a space where Stompers share reflections, personal essays and social commentaries that spark conversation and insight.
Are we too quick to judge and overly entitled? Stomper Anonymous thinks this is an increasingly prevalent culture - and one that needs to change.
He penned the following essay:
The Death of Reading Comprehension: The Rise of Thoughtless Reactions
Why do people comment without reading?
Why do so many netizens jump to conclusions or offer loud opinions, without reading past the first line, let alone understanding the full context?
Online platforms are flooded with reactions that stem from assumptions, not comprehension. It's no longer about engagement. It's about instant judgment.
But this phenomenon isn't limited to the digital world.
In the real world, too, people seem to have lost the habit of paying attention to simple instructions, rules, or basic social cues.
If rules aren't strictly enforced, people ignore them. If rules are enforced, people pretend not to know. Either way, accountability fades, and the burden falls on others to clean up the mess.
Just look at these everyday examples that have become all too common:
- Drivers making sudden turns without signalling, assuming everyone else should magically anticipate their moves.
- Pedestrians stepping onto roads without checking traffic, ignoring traffic lights, or failing to make eye contact with drivers, risking their own lives out of sheer carelessness.
- People booking parking lots by standing in them and preventing other drivers from entering.
- Clinic staff being pressured to allow last-minute walk-ins even after the doctor has already left, with some patients acting as if opening hours don't apply to them.
- Some netizens may be tech-savvy, but they still rely on staff assistance when it comes to queuing at the polyclinic.
- Doctors being asked how to apply lotion, something already printed on the packaging, because some caregivers don't want to read or even try first.
- Nurses being expected to spoon-feed patients who are fully capable, because family members either assume it's someone else's job or can't be bothered to assess the situation.
- Flight attendants being dragged into petty disputes over reclining seats, despite policies being clearly stated during briefings and in booking terms.
- Hawker centre patrons demanding extra utensils, condiments, or side dishes without any willingness to pay extra, treating service like an obligation, not a transaction.
- Basins choked with tissue paper when litter bins are just beside them.
- Taxi drivers getting scammed by passengers who sneak off without paying, with little to no consequences, because honesty is increasingly treated as optional.
- People cutting the queue at taxi stands by forcing their way in.
- Private-hire vehicle (PHV) drivers repeatedly reminding passengers to wear seatbelts or not to dictate routes, especially when fares are fixed and GPS routes are platform-assigned.
- Passengers not being present at pick-up points even when 'No Waiting, No Parking' signs are displayed.
- Parents fetching their children from school daily. Why are they so free? Are they public servants taking time off every day?
- Public transport users ignoring signs like 'No eating or drinking' that are right in front of them, acting as though the rules don't apply to them personally.
- People ordering food delivery online without providing full addresses.
- Online scammers continuing to exploit people with fake payment screenshots and delivery frauds; and despite countless warnings, many still fall for the same old tricks.
- Some individuals hold casual meetings or engage in play at libraries simply because they are air-conditioned, prompting staff to remind them to maintain silence.
- People attending bogus job interviews just to fulfil quotas, enabling employers to fix their choice of hires.
- Workplace and social bullying going unchecked, including discriminatory treatment in schools, embassies, hotels, queues, and public transport, often based on one's nationality or perceived status.
- Companies fabricating sales into losses to pay less corporate tax, yet inventory losses are not taxed.
So, what is really going on?
Is it laziness? A growing culture of entitlement? Or has society simply conditioned people to skim, react, and expect others to clean up after their lack of attention?
Somewhere along the line, reading became optional, listening became secondary, and responsibility became negotiable.
We now live in a time where:
- Reading is a chore.
- Instructions are 'suggestions'.
- Thinking before reacting is almost extinct.
The consequences of this shift are far-reaching, affecting everything from public safety to customer service, from digital literacy to real-world empathy.
Until we start valuing awareness over assumption, and understanding over outrage, we'll continue down this path of careless entitlement, where reacting replaces reasoning, and nobody wants to be held accountable for what they choose to ignore.
There are many possible solutions. One of them is for members of the public to intervene and stop the act, rather than recording videos and posting them on social media.
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