Passive Aggressive Commuting

Most days, people leave me with a bad taste in my mouth. Common courtesy is a thing of the past. "Old Timers" lovingly refer to the past as the "good ol' days." I wouldn't exactly say that I'm an old timer, but I would say that I remember when courtesy was the norm and not the exception. Our society has created an individualist monster that feeds on selfishness and has no respect for the "fellow man." Most people act based on a "what's in it for me" mentality, and they don't care who they hurt, offend, or completely screw in the meantime. Take this "me" mentality and put it up against my naturally aggressive, somewhat demanding personality, and you get a pretty heated exchange between commuters.

The line of riders was relatively short this morning, and the drivers were stacking up. When that happens, someone has to have the nerve to step out of the line and walk to the cars to ask where they are going. This helps keep things moving instead of cars just sitting still in the back of the line while people are standing in the freezing cold waiting for them. So, today, I sacrificed my line status to move back to the line of cars to call out destinations. People started scurrying back toward me to get into cars, and one of the cars was going to my destination. I could have easily just jumped into that car without regard for whether or not someone was in line in front of me. But, I live by the golden rule, and I refused to rob one of my fellow riders out of a ride. So I called out that destination to the front of the line, but nobody was moving. I called out once again just in case, and there was still no response. While my back was turned, two guys I didn't know heard me and were starting to get into that car.

Oh hell no you don't.

I turned to see this happening and instantly switched on the "bitch." I said "HEY! NO NO NO, I am in line for that car!" The one guy turned to his friend and laughed. My response: "What the hell are you laughing at? Get out of that car!" The driver was clearly caught in the middle, and he couldn't accommodate a third rider, so he just sat there waiting for us to sort this all out. The jerk's friend tells him he needs to step aside and let me have the ride, and his response was "why should I?" Unbelievable! No courtesy.

The nice guy steps out of the car and says "you can take my place." Really admirable of the guy since it was my ride to begin with, but his friend wasn't giving it up. So he was in the front, and I was in the back. Mr. No-Manners decides to act like a 3 year old in a temper tantrum, and he starts doing little annoying passive aggressive things to drive me crazy. He pushes the seat back as far as he could without completely crushing my legs, so I buried my knees as far into the back of his seat as I could get them. It required a great deal of effort, but I kept constant and undoubtedly uncomfortable pressure on his back the whole time. He kept cracking his window to "let fresh air in." So I would lean forward and cough and sneeze on his head. At one point I'm pretty sure I produced phlegm in a fake cough that landed on his ear. :) Oh well.

The whole ride was a tit for tat exchange of immature behavior, but I was not going to let him get away with any of it. It ruined my nap, but I was comforted by a sense of accomplishment that I had also prevented him from enjoying his ride.

We both got out at the same place, but he walked in a different direction. He tried one last time to get in my way, so I nailed him with my lunch bag in his leg. Ooops, who knew fruit and yogurt could be so heavy. I just smiled and flipped him a good old fashioned Irish 2 as we went our separate ways.

All I can do is hope that nobody else ever lets him get away with that again! As for his friend, next time I see him, he's got a guaranteed ride.