Saturday, March 22, 2014

Why I am a Bad Person

Sometimes I fear I present myself as being rather angelic in this blog. So I feel compelled to record dissenting opinions. I just had a run-in with two old ladies in a supermarket and I fear I was rather tart with them.

I was carrying my basket along an aisle and I bumped it against the trolley of one of the old ladies. (It wasn't a supermarket trolley, but rather the kind of upright-standing trolley with the handle at the top, and a leather or fabric covering around the case.) Reader, I didn't even notice I'd hit off her trolley-- or, if I did, it didn't register on my consciousness. It was a glancing blow at best, a tap.

Lady (very crabbily): "Don't hit off my trolley!"

Me (cheerfully): "OK!"

Should I have said sorry? Maybe.

A few moments later, I passed the old lady again and now she was complaining to a confederate, another old lady, about me.

"He didn't even apologize!".

I can't remember what I replied, but it was still not an apology and I used the address "ma'am", rather smarmily. I don't think it was unpleasant, though.

The first lady scooted off and her confederate scowled at me and said: "It's nice to be nice".

I said: "It is nice to be nice, but...this is so trivial!"

Lady: "It's not trivial!". And she scooted off, too.

So, there you go, reader. Never say this blog isn't warts and all. Was my reluctance to apologize because of a stiff-necked pride, or because of an aversion to that kind of peevish pettiness? Let the Almighty decide.

Update: Later on in the day, I was getting on a bus and there was an old lady getting off who was pushing pretty much the same kind of trolley that had featured in 'Trolleygate' earlier. Sometimes I let my shyness hold me back, but-- remembering today's encounter-- I pushed myself forward and helped her down with it. "Thank you very much, sir", she said. "God bless you!"

So my score today is: 2 Old Ladies Annoyed, 1 Old Lady Thankful.

10 comments:

  1. You didn't apologise for a minor wrong you didn't even realise you had committed ... they were unforgiving and judgmental as a result. Does that mean you were an occasion of sin for them? Probably not, as you couldn't have predicted their reaction. Pray for them.

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  2. Well, not to get all "Four Yorkshiremen" over this, but that's nuthin', lad! Not too long ago, I wasn't out of confession for more than 10 minutes when I had an altercation with a guy crossing the road in front of my bike, involving loud use of a 4-letter expletive by me. The fact was, both of us were actually in the wrong, traffic-wise. I didn't apologise, although I did have the opportunity. Spent the rest of the day feeling bad about it. I suppose I still am, to be retelling it now.

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  3. I suppose the only way to beat that would be to actually fight with the priest in the confessional immediately after absolution.

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  4. Moral of the story - beware of aul wan's with trolleys. I had an incident during the week - leaving Doctors surgery with wife we discovered the door was locked. I went back up the stairs & said to " lady " at reception - " sorry, the downstairs door seems to be locked " ; her reply, a haugty " and " !. My riposte is not fit for a family blog. So there are a lot of weird/ill-mannered people out there.

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  5. Ha, I like that moral! And who said this was a family blog, anyway?!

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  6. I wouldn't call it pride. When people take an obnoxious attitude like that it's a bit ironic if they start complaining about you not apologising. I'd just put it down to a misunderstanding in which 2 people ended up annoying each other. A bit like that Russell Crowe video with that interviewer at the Noah premiere. I don't think either was in the wrong. It was just a bad misunderstanding that snowballed a bit.

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  7. Ha. I was at a dinner party on Wednesday where I mentioned this and debate raged about it for almost an hour. Half the table was on my side, the other half took the part of the old ladies.

    I didn't see the Russell Crowe video!

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  8. Ha ha It must have been some dinner party. I hope I'm not being rude here, but are all these dinner parties work related? You've gone to some before I think.

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  9. Nothing rude about asking. Yes, it's the same group of friends every time, and I know them all through work one way or another. They're fantastic actually. We all get along really well and the conversation always flows.

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