![\"Bigstock](\"https:\/\/bone-in-the-throat.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/bigstock-Single-Car-In-Empty-Parking-Lo-3211233.jpg\" "\\"bigstock-Single-Car-In-Empty-Parking-Lo-3211233.jpg\\"")
<\/p>\nAlright, I\u2019m not proud of this but I\u2019ve got to own it.<\/p>\n
I went shopping on Thursday. I drove a ways to get to a shopping center where there was a Costco, Petco, Boot Barn, Office Depot, and a Ralphs all in close proximity to each other.<\/p>\n
I actually had a pretty nice time. I got some sweatpants and underwear at Costco, picked up some USB memory sticks at Office Depot, got dog treats at a very nice Petco and shopped the Boot Barn because I like boots.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not Imelda Marcos\u2026 BUT I COULD BE!<\/p>\n
I also got my steps for the day in. The only time I had to move the car was to go to the Ralphs grocery store. It is close to all the rest of the stores but is still a few blocks away.<\/p>\n
Getting into the parking lot was easy and the lot itself was pretty empty. I scored a parking spot right next to the Handicapped spots, grabbed my shopping bags and went to buy groceries. When I come out, I\u2019m in a pretty good mood although I wasn\u2019t thrilled with the cash I\u2019d just spent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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I was thinking as I put groceries into the trunk that I\u2019d need to see how far I could stretch the food and do better at coupons and such. Turning to get the next bag out of the cart I notice a car double parked with the driver waiting inside and watching me.<\/p>\n
Yep! The fucker was waiting on the spot I was in, with a parking lot full of\u00a0empty<\/strong> spots. But this asshole was waiting on my spot. He Literally could have driven to the next aisle over and parked his piece of shit nose to nose with my vehicle. The parking spot in front of my car had been empty when I pulled in and was still empty.<\/p>\n But NOOOO!<\/p>\n This fucker needed to have the spot I was occupying, and he was creating a traffic jam to do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m Sorry but this kind of stupid shit really sets me off.<\/p>\n In thinking about it I think it pisses me off because in a way it\u2019s passive aggressive, it\u2019s bullying, and it\u2019s trying to rush me. That may not have been what this moron was trying to accomplish but it sure as hell is how it felt to me!<\/p>\n I can understand this behavior at Christmas when the lots literally have zero spaces available. But mid day in a lot where there are tons of other spaces to park??? Nah it\u2019s bullshit!<\/p>\n I tried to shrug it off. Then I got into my car and realized that I couldn\u2019t see the son of a bitch. I knew he was there and I knew he\u2019d crowded the space enough that I might not be able to make the turn out of the parking space to go the direction I wanted to go. I might have to, because of this asshole, go the opposite direction, then have to thread my way through pedestrian traffic and other people trying to park and maneuver around this guy.<\/p>\n It\u2019s at about this time, my\u00a0ASSHOLE <\/strong><\/em>switch got flipped!<\/p>\n I refused to go the direction this fucker was trying to impose on me. I chirped the tires backing out of the parking slot and came within inches of hitting this fool. He managed to back up just in time.<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t done! I was really pissed off because what had been such a lovely shopping experience has suddenly turning into confrontation due to a rude thoughtless selfish motherfucker.<\/p>\n I went to the end of the lane and came around again just in time to roll my window down and tell this stupid fuck exactly what I thought of him, his family, his mother\u2019s marital status when he was born, and suggested that he\u2019d eaten too much lead paint when he was a child. (Yes I could say many of these things because the dumb fuck was about my age and he\u2019d understand what I was saying.)<\/p>\n I also pointed out that there were no less than six other empty parking spots all equidistant from the grocery store\u2019s door that he could have selected and that in the time he was waiting for me to pull out, he could have been in the damn store doing his shopping.<\/p>\n Then I drove off flipping him the bird out my sunroof!<\/p>\n That was only the beginning.<\/p>\n All the lanes were moving at the same approximate speed with a mile or two of wide open space ahead of a bunch of drivers like sheep blocking all the lanes. They were pacing the 18 wheelers.<\/p>\n This is something that has been happening a lot lately on the freeway to my exit. There\u2019s no reason for it, it just seems as though everyone decides to start playing pace cars while they\u2019re drooling on themselves.<\/p>\n This is also why it often takes over an hour to go 20 miles near my place. There\u2019s no rhyme or reason, just everyone gets stupid at the same moment. The spell lasts until one or two drivers like myself, a.k.a. impatient with stupidity, manage to punch through and accelerate away from the slack jawed crowd.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s like once the morons see cars moving away, they decide to catch up. I\u2019ve wondered sometimes if there was no change, no outside influence, would these people just keep slowing with everyone else until they came to a stop.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve rarely seen this driving behavior outside California. I saw someone similar once passing through Phoenix but didn\u2019t think anything more about it because so much of Arizona is full of California drivers.<\/p>\n Past New Mexico, driving across country you don\u2019t see this kind of stupid. I take that back\u2026 Houston does it.\u00a0<\/p>\n I punched through passing a fucking Prius doing 60 in the fast lane where the speed limit is 70. Then made it to my exit, I was by this time in no mood to take the long way which is also less steep up the mountain. I hit the steep windy road and did 90 all the way.<\/p>\n I need to watch for mounting impatience with idiot people and leave for home at the first sign. If I wait and continue to deal with \u201cThe Stupid\u201d I\u2019ll lose my shit.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, sometimes \u201cThe Stupid\u201d comes looking for me, and then, well, I\u2019m probably gonna respond with howling insanity and make a fool out of myself.<\/p>\n The other half really did a remarkable job of holding me back from the abyss. I miss him and his calm reassurance. I also miss him reading me and sometimes deciding it was time for us to leave a place, or him taking me someplace quiet so I could cool down.<\/p>\n Maybe I\u2019m still a little more raw than I think I am.\u00a0<\/p>\n He\u2019d have said the guy waiting on my particular space wasn\u2019t doing what he was doing to annoy me, he\u2019d have said the guy was probably just completely checked out or had smoked too much dope. I\u2019d have asked why I was the one always having to give everybody a pass.\u00a0<\/p>\n He\u2019d smile and say, \u201cBecause you\u2019re a smarter, better person, and better Man than they are\u2026”<\/p>\n Yeah, he was working me! Stroking my ego to calm me down.\u00a0<\/p>\n So What?!? It was one of the innumerable ways that he said he loved me every day.<\/p>\n I hope each and every person knows that kind of love.<\/p>\n I also hope that each and every one of the moronic drivers on California roads learns to drive or can\u2019t afford the gas to drive.<\/p>\n I\u2019m trying to be a better man\u2026 I\u2019m not there yet!<\/p>\n \ud83d\ude01<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Alright, I\u2019m not proud of this but I\u2019ve got to own it. I went shopping on Thursday. I drove a ways to get to a shopping center where there was a Costco, Petco, Boot Barn, Office Depot, and a Ralphs all in close proximity to each other. I actually had a pretty nice time. I … <\/p>\n![\"Vehicles\"](\"https:\/\/bone-in-the-throat.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/vehicles.jpg\" "\\"vehicles.jpg\\"")
Traffic was okay until I got within 10 miles of home. At that point one of the traffic behaviors that sends me into a blind rage was in full effect.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Werewolfbreakingfree\"](\"https:\/\/bone-in-the-throat.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Werewolfbreakingfree.jpg\" "\\"Werewolfbreakingfree.jpg\\"")
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