The complete inability for people to take responsibility for their actions and just say, “I’m sorry” when they’ve fucked up pisses me off to no end. (My mother is a shining example of this and probably why this is such a loaded topic for me.) This evening, for instance, Davey and I are making our way across the parking lot to the grocery store when he says, “Woah! She’s going to hit you.” I suddenly see tail lights and jump out of the way, shouting while I do so. Davey is waving his arms wildly in the woman’s rear window and after a few seconds of that she finally, slowly, stops. She didn’t slam on the brakes like we surprised her. And when Davey firmly but politely told her that she should watch where she’s going she comes back with, “Do you think I’d hit her on purpose?”
“No, but you should be more careful and watch where you’re going. Goodnight.”
And we start to walk away. Well the bitch isn’t done yet saying crap and I turn around (I’ve got a temper on me) and tell her that if she was watching where she was going she wouldn’t have nearly hit me. She gets out of her car to say that, “Since I’ve been here (she has an accent and is apparently from a caribbean island, not that that’s here nor there) I notice people just walk out in front of moving cars. That don’t make no kinda sense.” I was furious but also shaken at having just had a car nearly hit me. Davey again tells her to watch where she’s going and to have a goodnight and, pissed off, I walk away saying, “Stupid bitch.”
Of course, in quick encounters like this, we never think of a quick response. Oh no, that comes to us about 20 minutes later, in the grocery store, when I wished I had pointed out to the woman, “Bitch, your reverse lights weren’t even on until I was halfway across your car!” Gah! Had this woman just said a simple, “I’m sorry” it would have diffused the situation and we’d have just said, “Well just watch where you’re going.” Instead, she has to argue when she clearly wasn’t looking behind her as she started to pull out. When she got out of her car I thought, “Oh no. Am I going to have to hit her?” I’ve never decked anyone in my life, but had she gotten in my face about it I’m sure my temper would have gotten the better of me. Thank goodness she kept a few paces away.
I was shaking as we got inside the grocery store and I still feel shaky. On the way home I start trying to concoct a Foamy the Squirrel-type rant about how stupid people shouldn’t be allowed to drive cars, but I can’t come close to being that funny. Next, I start singing, “These are people who piss, me off” to the tune of Jim Carroll’s “People Who Died.” Ah, creative catharsis. I told Davey I planned to have some Bailey’s Irish Cream when I got home. It would either calm my nerves or fuel me with more vitriol as I write my blog entry. Either way, it would be good times, Davey said.
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