If you have ever shopped at Costco, you will know the title of this column isn't actually that far-fetched.
The Christmas season is slowly sneaking up on us, but the winter blues have hit as hard as a snowball to the face.
I have to say, I was fairly impressed with my level of patience the other day while waiting for a gentleman to back out of a parking space at Costco so I could get in it. I was sitting there quietly, except for the sound of the blinking signal light, when it happened. It makes me giggle to think of it now and even had me laughing then.
A slightly crazed fellow started banging on my window yelling profanities at me. I rolled down my window and asked "Can I help you?" (Which, judging by his behaviour, was a really bad question to ask.) He needed help alright... I certainly didn't have the type HE needed. He proceeded to tell me that I needed to get the "bleep" out of his way. I wasn't quite sure what he was talking about. This man had come out of nowhere, or so it seemed. That's when I realized he had jumped out of his truck behind me, leaving the door wide open, so that he could tell me to move.
He didn't even go the usual driver rage first step ...and lay on the horn. I mean, seriously, who gets out of their truck on a Saskatchewan winter evening if they don't have to?
I am guessing by the redness of his face, he probably wasn't feeling the cold anyway. I explained to him that I was simply waiting for the parking spot, and I DID have my signal light on. He was more than welcome to drive around me if he could not wait the extra few seconds for the other driver to finish backing up.
I found it ironic that I had just heard on the radio on my way in to the city that the Mayor had declared that very day as "The Day of Giving" in Regina. I really don't think giving someone a hard time was what he meant. It looks like he is going to have to get a tad more specific next year, because this guy clearly wasn't getting the message.
He mumbled some more and took off with his arms in the air as I wished him a very Merry Christmas. Maybe he was wishing me Happy Holidays with his sign language... that's what I am going to go with. I was feeling pretty happy about how calm I remained. I was having a fantastic day and this guy was not going to ruin it. I truly believe you get what you give, and it seemed that this fellow was definitely heading in the wrong direction.
Finally I got in to my parking space and headed to the store when I see the truck come back around the corner, this time in the wrong lane. He cut off a lady and ended up causing quite the traffic jam in the already cramped parking lot. It looked like things weren't getting any better for this guy when I walked by the crowd of cars to see the other drivers flipping him the bird. I couldn't help but giggle. Seems to me, the universe said what I had wanted to in the first place. All I had to do was keep my mouth closed and karma handled the rest.
