Dedicated to those who use the excuse 'This is a hostel' to defend being terrible

An overwhelming majority of people I've met in hostels have been friendly, interesting, and respectful, but unfortunately some have not. Today, I just so happened to come across such a person who made that apparently clear, so, while the memory is fresh in my mind and the rage is still flaring, I decided turn negativity to entertainment and compose this rant. Please enjoy.

It was eight in the morning and most of the people in the room were still asleep. That is, seemingly everyone except myself (I'm a bit of an insomniac) and this other man in his mid 40s on the opposite side of the room. Upon seeing me stand up, he called out rather loudly, saying, "Hey. What the hell is there to do around here?" Noticing his shout had just woken up about half the room, I asked his to talk quietly since people were trying to sleep. But he didn't like that. Not one bit.

"Oh, you're gonna be like that! This is a hostel and I can be as loud as I want. It's the morning and people should be up now!"

"Dude, relax," I replied.

"Look!" he continued. "She's not sleeping! She's checking her phone!" he said pointing to a girl who had clearly just woken up from the commotion and was checking the time. "I'm gonna talk as I want." He said, now working himself into a frenzy.

"Can you please be quiet?" asked the girl who had just checked her phone.

"You weren't sleeping!" He bellowed. "You were on your phone! I thought this was supposed to be a fun hostel. I don't have to listen to you." He then stormed off. I thought of replying but realized he was probably in the midst of a mid-life crises, so I exercised some restraint.

There was one thing though that pissed me off most of all. It was his use of the phrase, "This is a hostel," in order to justify acting like a complete dick. Now, I would like to say this was just a one time incident and that this was just one person, but it's not and he's not. Every once in a while, there's someone who thinks that, because they're in a hostel (as opposed to their own home or an expensive hotel), they have the right to do anything they want and completely disrespect anyone else who happens to be there. I'm not exactly sure why such people do this. Maybe it's the general relaxed atmosphere, maybe because they feel that common decency doesn't apply when they're away from home, or maybe because their parents neglected them as children. But for some reason, every once in a while, someone comes along who thinks that because they're in a hostel, they can do literally whatever they want.

This goes for the belligerent doughy guy in the knit hat that relentlessly hit on the girl working reception as she was busy trying to check people in and do her job. It goes for the pretentious 'aspiring musician' who decided to play Wonder Wall (tries not to vomit) at 8:00 in the morning as people are trying to sleep. It goes for weaselly guy with the high, shrill voice who thought it would be a good idea to Skype someone at 3:00am in the dorm room, and it especially goes for whoever ate my food in the fridge the other night.* Every one of them attempted to defend their actions by saying, "this is a hostel," as if that somehow justifies everything.

*You know who you are!! I had it labeled!!!! My name was on it in multiple locations!

Here is my message to them and anyone who makes the same excuse: How can you possibly think that staying at a hostel means it's fine to do whatever you want regardless of those around you. Do you think that just because it isn't you home or an expensive hotel, it becomes your own personal playground/trash can? What's next? Will it be, 'I just threw mayonnaise on the bed, but that's ok because this is a hostel.' Or, 'I use people's shoes as toilets and like to vomit on the elderly, but that's ok because this is a hostel.' Maybe, 'I've got a severed human hand in a jar, but that's ok because this is a hostel.' I'm not sure what went wrong in your cognitive development, but sometime around 5 or 6 years old, you should have started to perceive at least some level of empathy, but apparently you did not. Maybe you're parents neglected you and this is your way of trying to make up for those years of lost attention, or maybe your uncle dropped you on your head one too many times as a child. I'm not sure. Whatever the cause, just do everyone else a favor from here on out and stop being an insufferable dick.

Sincerely,

Myself and all those who have had to deal with such experiences.