Would It Have Killed You To Take Five More Steps‽

Yesterday I ran down to the King Soopers to do my weekly shopping and saw something that I could not believe I witnessed. I am glad that I did! Because without my having seen it, I would not have believed it!

As I approached my car, a woman started pushing an empty cart away from her car, at the corner of the lot. She went nearly half-way down the aisle and pushed the cart up against the planter that I was parked against. I was not sure, but I thought I heard it bang against my driver's door as she walked away. Either way, it was entirely too close to my car. I would have to move it to get into the car, let alone to leave the space.

"Excuse me," I said to her as she walked past me. "If you leave your cart there I will not be able to open my driver's side door. The cart corral is just the other side of the next car down the row... I think that's where you meant to leave it."

She looked at me brazenly, rolled her eyes, and walked back to her cart. Without a word to me, she retrieved it (this time, I definitely heard the ding against the side of the car) and deposited it in the cart corral. She walked back past me, averting her gaze.

"Thank you. Have a great day!" I said as she passed.

I had thought that was it. But then, as I was unloading my groceries into the trunk, a car pulled up beside me. It was the car that she had gotten into. The window wound down and the woman's husband leaned out. "You owe my wife an apology." He growled at me.

Really‽ That's the way he wanted to play it? Okay!

Two could play that game, but my decision was to go for understated. I pulled my grocery list out of my pocket, stepped to the front of the car, and made note of the license plate number.

All the while, the man was yelling at me. "What are you doing? Did you hear me? Are you going to apologize to my wife?" demanded the man.

Tucking the pad back into my pocket, I answered the guy's questions. "Let's answer the last one first. No. I do not intend to apologize to your wife. What is there to apologize for? 'I'm sorry I caught you hitting my car with your cart, perhaps?' No. I don’t think so.

"As to whether or not I heard you, sir, I am sure that there are cashiers inside the store that heard you. The fact that I am answering your questions should make the answer to your second question self-evident.

"Now, to your first question. I am making note of your license number because your wife neglected to tell me how to get in touch with you should I need to settle the bill for the damage she did to my car with her cart. Thank you for stopping by and rectifying that. When I finish getting my groceries in the car, I will go look at the side of my car. Do you want to wait or shall I find you with the bill later?"

The man looked at his wife. "It was just a tap." She whined.

"Try and find us!" then man said and with that, he drove off with a completely unnecessary squealing of tires.

It is so nice when Karma catches-up with some jerk who desperately deserves it! Here's a word of warning: Allison Parkway (in Lakewood) is a bad place to be speeding. There are lots of cops around because of the Courthouse and the Police Station, and they usually park and watch for people speeding past the Park-N-Ride.

There was no damage to my car, but he and his wife had been so staggeringly rude, that it felt good to see their car pulled over just in front of the police car with the lights flashing!

Wherever you are today, I hope that you will remember: everything you put out there eventually comes back to you! Make sure what you're sending out into the universe is something you'll want to see again.

Don Bergquist - October 25, 2010 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA