There is no excuse for Rudeness

Strange, how some people are just rude. I found that quite a few handicapped people seem to have a chip on their shoulder. They seem to blame the world for their problem, they think the world owes them something, and they treat other people with rudeness.

This is not about bashing handicapped people. You never know when you maybe suffering the same fate. Accidents can happen and in moments you can end up crippled; sicknesses can change a person’s life forever. Getting older sometimes means life changes, like having trouble getting around because of arthritis, back problems, bad knees, and all kinds of other maladies. So, no, this is not about talking ill about handicapped people.

This is about rudeness.

Yesterday I parked in a handicapped zone. I shouldn’t have, but there wasn’t a parking spot available, so I parked near one of the signs. My wife just wanted to drop in quickly into a store. Since my back was aching, I decided to stay in the car, so I figured it will do no harm to park in a handicapped zone for a short time. Should a handicapped person come along in a car looking for a spot to park, I would move. That was my intention.

I have to add that I don’t approve of healthy people, who can walk, parking in a handicapped zone, especially if they have a sign hanging from their mirror, but when they get out of the car they have no problem walking. Obviously, they are not the handicapped person.

Anyway, as I sat there listening to music, a car pulled up behind me, a woman gets out and bangs on my window. “Do you have a permit?” she yells. And I mean yell. I said, “No, I don’t.” Then she made a sign signalling for me to move my car and muttered something I didn’t catch.

Now, I don’t respond well to being yelled at and gestured at. If she would have asked politely for me to move I would have done so, because that had been my intention all along. Her rude behavior prompted me to ignore her and stay.

Maybe the fact that the car next to me backed out of its spot might have something to with me not moving. I don’t know, but the main reason was this woman just pissed me off.

She pulls into the vacated spot. She gets out and bangs again against my window with her fist. Then she yells, “Shame on you!” and makes a rude sign.

I yelled back, “What is your problem? You have a parking spot.”

She walked on toward the store entrance, a little slow and with a slight limp. Actually, she walked as slow as I walk when my back acts up and when my knees hurt. No, I don’t have a sign in my window. Fortunately, I don’t need it...yet. Neither did she.

Rudeness and screaming at me never gets anyone far with me, but politeness will do it every time.