Big box shopper has a very bad day
Dear Amy: I just got back from shopping at a big box store. This was after a long week of work, so I was already tired.
In the store, people were pushing the too-big carts around, banging their carts off of each other, and all the while talking loudly on their cellphones.
There were long lines at the checkout, and there was a price issue with one of my items.
When I finally went to my car, I found the car next to me had pulled in so close to my car that I hardly had any room to get into my car and unload my groceries.
In frustration, I banged open my door, leaving a nick in the side of their car.
I feel terribly that I did that and wonder if it was a sign of my stress and impatience, or was this a character flaw, and perhaps I'm really not the nice person people think I am?
-- Wondering
Dear Wondering: Surely you have noticed how sometimes in busy parking lots, one person parking off kilter can throw off the whole line, as people compensate -- and perhaps overcompensate -- as they pull into a space.
Human nature runs on a similar dynamic. You were having a bad day, so you deliberately gave someone else a bad day. And the person with the damaged car might have gone home and given his kids a bad day.
I think you probably ARE the nice person others think you are. And yes, you are also flawed, just like the rest of us.
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