I’m not talking about those people who are deliberately rude; that’s a topic for another day, and to be honest, those kinds of people have always been around. We call them “a**holes.” I’m not talking about stupid people; that’s likewise a topic for another day; besides, a lack of capacity is something we pity, not something we grow angry over – unless the stupid people are in Congress.

And let’s be honest, the list of Congressmen and -women who aren’t stupid would be shorter than the ones who are.

What I am talking about are people who are so clueless, self-absorbed, or both, that they simply have no clue how annoying their behavior is to others.

A few examples I’ve observed, the ones that stand out in the mind:

Some years ago, while I was working in west-central New Jersey, my wife and I maintained a second residence in Raritan, New Jersey, the birthplace of Marine Corps hero John Basilone. While there, my wife and I were able to attend Raritan's annual John Basilone Day parade twice. Now a parade honoring a military hero is always punctuated by the various color guards of the organizations marching in the parade, and I was already mildly annoyed by the fact that my wife and I were the only ones who made a point of standing when the color guards went by – my wife leveraging herself up off of her walker to do so. Also, I was the only man to remove his headgear at that time, even though there were several self-professed veterans in our immediate vicinity.

But that wasn’t what got me. What got me was the young man who parked himself just to my wife’s right-front and stood there, through the whole parade, in the exact middle of the sidewalk, forcing families and groups of onlookers to wedge around him to proceed down the sidewalk.

Now, this dumb SOB could have taken one long step to his front or rear -- where there was plenty of room -- and left ample space for passersby. But despite some very pointed looks and typically sharp Jersey remarks, he didn’t bother. He stood in the middle of the damn way throughout.

Another: My wife and I generally set aside an hour or so on the first Tuesday of every month to hit the grocery store and do our trading for the week; we pick this day because our local Fred Meyer store allows 10 percent off all items not otherwise marked down for all customers over age 55. That’s not the worst deal ever offered and makes it worthwhile planning to do our trading on that day. We usually go early; it’s often a suitable time to go. I can set aside time early enough in the day when most folks are still asleep or at work, and the store isn’t too crowded.

But on our last outing, we ran into another oblivious person. This one was in the baking aisle; she was standing to one side, comparing labels on two or three assorted brands of olive oil. That would have been fine, except… that she left her overloaded shopping cart exactly in the middle, blocking the entire aisle.

We waited a few moments. She ignored us. I finally said, “Excuse me, but we need to get by,” and moved her cart myself, at which point she gave me a mildly annoyed look (how dare I presume the aisle should be left clear for others to navigate!) but said nothing.

For what may be the best one, I have to take you back to about 1978. This example is a case study in obliviousness and stupidity, which makes it even more befuddling.

It was a Friday night; I had just gotten off work and was on the prowl for a bit of adventure, as 17-year-old boys are prone to do. Since I needed gas and had just gotten paid, I went to the nearest Quick-Trip, which had two gas pumps, to fuel up on some great old, 79-cent-a-gallon leaded regular gas, for the weekend.

Just ahead of me was an old Chevrolet, which had pulled up to the pump just ahead of me. The driver got out of his car, took the nozzle off the holder, flipped the lever to turn the pump on – and then tucked the nozzle under his arm to light a cigarette.

I hit Reverse, punched it, shot into the street, did a reverse bootlegger spin that would not have been out of place in a Hal Needham movie, and got the hell out of there.

I’m not sure why this is becoming a more noticeable trend. Airports are one of the worst places to see oblivious people. Waiting for almost any given flight, you can see some jacka** parked in the handicapped seating nearest the gate, with his a** on one seat, his suitcase on another, and his backpack on a third. And driving – don’t get me started! Alaskans, I will say, are a little better than Colorado, New Jersey, or California folks about remembering that their vehicles have turn signals, but only just.

It’s not always stupidity. I’ve known, personally, people who were frequently oblivious but not necessarily stupid. It’s not necessarily meanness. I’ve known, personally, people who were good-natured and even fun, but still were frequently unaware of how their behavior affected people.

The problem is that oblivious people may be even more dangerous than morons or a**holes. Stupid people and a**holes are a different beast. We know them, we can predict their a**holery/stupidity and deal with it.

Oblivious people? Keep a sharp eye out for them. There’s no telling what they may screw up next.