Mean People Suck

Recently, I've had some encounters with some not very nice people.

The first incident occurred in Wal-Mart late one Sunday evening. Believe me, I am no Wal-Mart shopper. I am a tried and true fan of Target, but it was Sunday evening, I was in need of poster board for school the next day, and Wal-Mart is only 2 miles away from my house vs. the 5 mile trek to Target.

I'm not sure how, but I was able to con Mike into coming with me. When we got to the store, we made a bee-line for the school supplies aisle in search of poster board. We found the posterboard, but we also found a family of 3 (a mom and her 2 kids) blocking our path to the coveted posterboard. They seemed to be having a bit of trouble deciding exactly what kind of posterboard they needed.

Mike and I stood off to the side, patiently waiting for our chance to grab our posterboard and be on our way. As we stood there, (not one to waste time) Mike inquired as to which posterboard I needed. Then, we waited. and waited. and waited. Several minutes went by.

Finally, Mike stepped in and (politely!) said, "Excuse me, can I get in here for a second?" and he quickly grabbed our desired posterboard and was on his way.

The mother then screamed at her son, "YOU'RE TAKING TOO LONG!" and threw a piece of posterboard on the floor. The family began their retreat through the aisle, at which point the mother, who apparently knew she was mad but was unable to make up her mind as to who she was mad at, started yelling rather obnoxiously, "THAT GIRL THINKS SHE'S THE ONLY ONE IN THIS STORE?! SHE THINKS SHE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO NEEDS POSTERBOARD?!" (silence where I imagine one of her children was shusing her) "WHAT?" she continued yelling from the next aisle, "IT PISSES ME OFF. WE CAN'T HAVE THE TIME TO PICK OUT OUR POSTERBOARD, TOO?!"

And before she had finished her rant, I had already made the decision that that would be my very last trip to Wal-Mart. Ever.

The good news was that Mike (somehow) managed to miss this little yelling spree. Well, that's not completely accurate, apparently he heard the spree but didn't listen to her words. Since she had initially been yelling at her son, he had assumed she had continued to yell at HIM. I was actually glad that he hadn't realized she was yelling at me, (I mean, seriously, why was she yelling at me? I wasn't even the one who scooted in there and grabbed the posterboard!) because I knew that he would have made a scene and yelled right back.

You see, Michael is the yin to my yang. As much as I am passive, he is aggressive.

Which leads me to Mean Person story #2.

I believe I mentioned in my last post that our first destination on Michael Day was a local seafood restaurant. I know that I have also mentioned that we recently purchased a (new to us) car. Well, we parked our car next to an outdoor patio that was completely camoflauged in vines. Translation: you could hear people talking, but you couldn't see them. As we were getting out of the car, Mike accidentally set off the car alarm. Twice. (like I said, the car is new to us). Some kindly happy hour-er decided to scream, "Why don't you turn off that stupid car alarm!" To which Mike promptly screamed back, "It was an ACCIDENT. SORRY!"

I informed Mike that when he screams back at an idiot he looks like just as much of an idiot. He didn't agree nor did he appreciate my feedback on the situation. But, hey, I call it like I see it.

Which leads me to today, the incident that inspired this post in the first place.

At my school, I am in charge of the afternoon Traffic Patrol. It is a student volunteer organization. The students direct traffic after school under my supervision. Today, I was chatting with one of my students when out of the corner of my ear, I heard an angry woman. I looked up to find a mother yelling at one of the 8th grade Safety Patrol volunteers. She was saying, "YOU'RE IN MY WAY!"

I immediately made my way over to the 8th grader to inquire what the incident was all about. She wasn't quite sure of anything other than the fact that a grown woman had just screamed at her.

When the woman came back, with her 2nd grader in tow, I stopped her and said, "Excuse me, ma'am. Please be nice to my Safety Patrol volunteers."

I wish I could tell you what it was that she said in return, but really, all I know is that it was some kind of hysterical rant about having to wait in line and not being able to go where she wanted to go.

I said, "The Safety Patrol is doing their best; you just need to be patient."

To which she responded with an even longer and more hysterical rant. To which I responded, "Ok, goodbye then."

I mean, I was pissed, but I'm certainly not going to stand there in the middle of the school parking lot and in front of her 2nd grade child and a handful of my 8th grade students and have an argument with the woman. She was, however, completely out of line. I don't care what happens but it is not okay for a random adult woman to scream at a child who she does not know. I don't even think it's okay for an adult to scream at a child she does know, but that's another argument altogether.

Our principal wasn't at school this afternoon, but I will be knocking on her door tomorrow to inform her about this woman. Because, something needs to be done.

Yelling back at her in the parking lot was not the way to handle the situation, but that does not mean that the situation does not need to be handled. This woman needs to know that what she did is not okay.

My official opinion on the subject? Mean people suck. Totally.