I'm not a violent man. Never was. I know that, as I get older, I'm supposed to be more temperamental. Maybe I am. Perhaps I am quicker to anger. Old codger stuff. Is it just a male thing?
Today, I had an urge to eat French fries. Why? I don't know. I don't usually crave them. Call it a "hankering." I knew that, if I were to order them at the nearby McDonald's, I'd have to ask for them without salt. Would they do that?
As I wheeled into the parking lot, some a-hole cut me off. Zoomed in right in front of me! I almost hit him. Just who did he think he was? JERK! He quickly pulled into a parking spot and I soon followed into a nearby one. He jumped out of his car in a flash and ran toward the side door. I really thought about giving him a piece of my mind as I exited mine, but three things stopped me from saying a word...
#1 Age. I was a lot older, wiser and more experienced. Patience goes a long way. Or, it should.
#2 He was a construction type dude. Bigger than me, in other words. He would have kicked my you know what. Plus, he was a lot faster than me.
#3 He made a bee-line to the men's room.
That third one (#3) told me he was in a hurry to do a number two, probably, without going into further detail, and that gave him license to get where he needed to go as quickly as humanly possible. That's where #1 came in. There may be circumstances beyond someone's control that cause something to happen. (Imagine if he had come along a second or two earlier. BAM! He would have hit me and there would have been two accidents.)
As he disappeared into the restroom area, I went through the main door and waited near the front counter to order. A minute or two later, I was able to ask for them without salt. Yes, I was told, and they come out fresher that way, but it took a little longer.
That guy? As I left, he was still in there somewhere, I'm sure, but I had no desire to go reprimand him for anything. Actually, I didn't give him a thought at all. Instead, I learned a simple little lesson about maintaining a level head. Self-control prevailed. I'm sure we've all been there before - old and young.
Cross-posted on Daily Kos
