(A group of teenagers comes in and one of them approaches me.)
Teenager: “Can you tell us how to get to [Location]?”
Me: “No problem. You just go out my door, turn left, and it’ll be just around the corner. Can’t miss it.”
Teenager: “Thanks.”
(They go out the door, look around for a moment and their spokesperson returns.)
Teenager: “Which way is left?”
(I am shopping at an outlet mall with my friends and their two-year-old daughter. It’s very crowded due to the time of year and some customers are getting a bit pushy.)
Friend #1: *after several close encounter of an awkward kind* “I hate it when people stand way too close in line behind you.”
(We went to a coffee shop for lunch. Friend #2 and I went to stake out a table while Friend #1 got in line with his toddler on his shoulders. A man got in line behind them, standing weirdly close despite there being plenty of room. My friend didn’t notice this but his daughter did. She twisted around, reared back, and WHACKED the guy on his head. Friend #1 didn’t even see this while Friend #2 and I were dying in a fit of laughter. We had to tell him afterward. I guess the toddler had had enough as well.)
(I have just been dropped off near a shopping mall and proceed to enter. At the same time a woman enters from the opposite doors. I have reached the next set of doors just before the woman gets there.)
Me: *while opening the door* “After you, please.”
Woman: “What, because I am a woman I can’t open a god-d*** door myself?!”
Me: *after a brief pause to recover from the shock of the outburst* “No, ma’am. My parents brought me up to be polite, and to treat others with respect, regardless of age, race, gender, or sexual orientation. The fact that you are a woman has no bearing on me opening and holding the door. I do apologize that you did not receive the same sort of upbringing. I will be more than happy to oblige you.”
(I then proceed the enter the store and close the door behind me, leaving the dumbstruck woman standing on the other side. With a final smile, I turn to see a female employee of the store standing within earshot of the situation.)
Employee: “You handled that perfectly. I hate how some people act.”
Me: “Unfortunately, I am getting used to it. Have a good day.”
(As I walked away I glanced over my shoulder to see the woman still on the other side of the door.)
(As I live in a busy city, albeit in a nice area, I am a little protective of my bike. I bring it into my apartment at night and never leave it tied up outside for long. As a joke my dad recently attached a particularly ugly children’s cartoon horn to the bike and finding it amusing I haven’t bothered taking it off. One day I park my bike in bad spot at the mall and come out to see a man bent over it. Obviously, I assume he is trying to damage it or steal it so I walk around to stand in front of him.)
Me: “Excuse me. Can my bike and I help you?”
(He looks up at me horrified and I realize he has a screwdriver in his hand with the horn dangling from a screw.)
Me: “Are you seriously stealing my bike horn?”
(He then drops the screwdriver and runs away.)
Me: “Wait, it’s ugly; you can have it! Oh, well, too late. Hey, free screwdriver!”
(Needless to say, I am even more cautious about my bike in the city now. I dropped the horn in a donation bin a few days later, though. It was nice of him to take it off. And I still have his screwdriver.)
(I’m walking through a small-ish mall to get to my bus, as I’m going to work. A mall vendor tries to stop me.)
Vendor: *begins his spiel*
Me: “Sorry, I’ve got to catch the bus to work!”
Vendor: “Work can wait!”
(All I could think of was if he was willing to tell my boss, our team of 7, and the client that his pre-ordered move was going to be late because he wanted to sell me a new Internet plan… or if he was willing to pay me the financial damages of losing my job, which could very well have happened.)
