Mean People Suck

I don't know if it's the mini-van or what... but I have encountered more than my fair share of mean people -- mostly drivers -- here lately, and I'm about done being pleasant.

Mean people of the world, you've been fairly warned.

Example 1:
While on my way to the bank -- driving the MV, of course --, I pull out into the highway after looking carefully both ways. After the MV pulls clear out into the appropriate lane, this service truck comes flying around the curve. I speed up so as not to cause a traffic hazard, but this bleepity-bleep -- instead of doing the normal thing (applying brakes and cursing me under his breath even though it was clear when I pulled out and he was going way too fast) -- pulls up right on my bumper.

Whatever.

I hate to be tailgated, but I'll slow down to a minimal crawl and make you suffer while laughing as your face turns unnatural shades of red.

Example #2: (a continuation of sorts of Example #1)
Up ahead, a car stops to turn left across traffic. The bleepity-bleep behind it (not the same bleepity-bleep who is still, at present, tailgating the MV) swerves around it, using the shoulder of the road as a traffic lane.

Now, this ticks me off. No sense in it, I'm telling you. That's not a lane, and it's not going to kill you to stop and wait for the car to turn.

Of course, this one car's ridiculous behavior encourages the ridiculous behavior of others (much like what happens in the classroom, except these morons are in cars and not in desks), so five other cars whiz around this car, which is still waiting to turn. (This all takes place in the span of, like 1 minute.)

I don't swerve; I stop. My kids are in the car, and I'm not taking the chance of some silly person pulling out of the gas station up ahead, thinking traffic is stopped behind this car and ramming the MV, causing it to go out of commission as the fastest van in the world.

Example #3: (a continuation, still of Examples #1 and #2)
Ok, so here I am stopping, and what does the bleepity-bleep tailgater behind me do? He swerves and HONKS at me.

Sweet justice is served, however, when just as he swerves around me, spraying gravel everywhere, the car in front of me turns, and he's really only succeeded in passing me... only to get behind a really slow car.

Nah-nah-nee-BOO-BOO.

Unfortunately for me, he does not work for a company who is concerned about how their drivers are driving (shocker there...), and there is no 1-800 number bumper sticker for me to call to complain about his silliness.

Example #4:
Upon reaching the bank (finally), I pull up to the ATM to make a deposit. I pull the envelope out of the little envelope thingy and proceed to fill it out. About halfway through, I become aware of this sound. (Again, this has all taken about 1 minute.)

What the heck?

I look in my rearview mirror, and it's this mean man in a big honkin' Expedition behind me, laying on his horn.

Excuse me, Mr. Rudeness 2007, but what gives you the right to honk at me? I was here first, dadnabbit.

Of course, the realization that he is indeed cursing me with his horn freaks me out, and I pull forward, only to realize that I haven't made my deposit.

I whip the MV around quickly and pull in behind him.

If I hadn't been fuming about the fact that he dare honk at me, I would've laid on my horn.

THAT would've been funny.

Instead, I answer Ethan's 574 rapid-fire questions about why we're going back through the line by saying, "The mean man in front of us is impatient, so Mommy let him go first."

So there, Mean Man. You may have gotten to make your transaction first, but my 4 year old thinks you're right up there with the bad guys from Power Rangers Mystic Force.

I, on the other hand, am a good guy because I played nice. I get to be the Pink Ranger.

Ethan doesn't have to know that I sent out a telepathic curse that the impatient man would get behind a fleet of cars going 20 mph or less in a no passing zone. That might be cause to revoke my Pink Ranger status.

My point is that all of this happened within a 20 minute span. That's a lot of meanness to encounter in such short period of time -- and all of it was pretty thoughtless and easily avoided. Not to get on a soap box -- I know I'm guilty of being impatient and rude, too -- but I think crap like this is a significant part of what's wrong with our world today.

I see it with my students a lot; they get so wrapped up in what's going on with them that they forget to be concerned or even polite to others around them. K. says he deals with it in the Big Boy World, too, but nobody really seems to do anything about it... and I'm not really sure what can be done.

Maybe I just notice because I don't want my kids to grow up to be mean people, and I consciously try to be a little nicer, hoping they'll notice my example. Now, I'm not saying I'm some sort of Mother Theresa nor am I campaigning for Mom of the Year. I'm just saying that hearing a 3-year old yell, "Watch where you're freakin' going, Moron!" as he's driving his tricycle will put things in perspective for you.

It wouldn't hurt any of us to be a little nicer or a little more patient. You never know whose day you might make... or who's having a really crappy day and wouldn't mind putting a cap in somebody's A and just needs an excuse... or what 4-year old (with a crazy mommy that will stalk your mean carcass and teach you a lesson or two about being nice) is watching and learning from your example.