Be Excellent to Each Other

The other day I was driving to Target.  Post-Halloween sales were calling my name.  NEXT year, my house will look awesome, I tell you.  Awesome.

This year's Halloween decor

So anyway, I was first in the intersection when the light turned green.  As I went to drive, I realized I was in the wrong gear and it took me maybe 3 seconds to get my car in first and proceed through the intersection.  The car behind me honked and flashed their lights several times with the lady driver dramatically rolling her eyes in my direction as she swerved around me.  Swerved around me only to turn into the next parking lot which happened to be Target. (She must have had Halloween bargains on her mind too.)  Her impatient swerve got her into a parking space about half a second before I did and as she parked, so did I.  Right next to her.

When she got out of her car I looked at her with my eyebrows raised.  I wanted to say something. I desperately wanted to have a clever gibe ready for her or even politely explain what had happened.  But I didn't/couldn't.  She looked embarrassed and shyly averted her eyes as she walked quickly away from me.

I truly think that this girl never imagined she would be face to face with me after her little car tantrum. I think that if she knew she would, she never would have acted that way. This behavior baffles me.  I'm not saying that I haven't been guilty of a little road rage or impatience with a stranger.  But that's what is so baffling.  I am a nice person. I would never act rudely to a stranger's face or display my impatience standing right in front of someone.  But safely behind the wheel of my car I am free to be a jerk without any repercussion.

This is the same baffling behavior that has been rearing its ugly head in social media.  This is one of the many reasons I am not a fan of Facebook.  People are so quick to judge, comment, hate and release venom to complete strangers because they are safely tucked away behind the protection of their computer or phone.  Would these people really be so venomous and forcefully opinionated to these people's face?

You know what I'm talking about.  Strangers are weighing in about everything.  The other day I saw an article about a boy who made a mistake at a football game and received hundreds of hateful text messages and even death threats because they saw his mistake on YouTube.  Really?! His mistake bothered someone so much that they felt the need to tell him to die?  If this same threatening stranger saw this video and then met this kid in person would he still say the same thing? I'm gonna say no.

After the Sandy Hook shootings I remember visiting a Facebook page set up in memory of one of the victims.  As I scrolled through the comments on the page I was bewildered by some of the negative and hateful things people said.  (The link is for a more current post from the same page requesting people with hurtful comments to please keep them to themselves. This is STILL going on!?)

I'm not on a soapbox here saying that I'm any better than anyone else.  But that's my point... no one is!  I'm just saying that the next time you try to hide behind your steering wheel or your computer screen, don't. You might just end up in the same parking lot with that person you're bullying.