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I Thought Vermont Was Friendly
"I thought Vermont was friendly"Believe it or not, I was told that quote yesterday by someone from (I'm guessing) Florida. I'm guessing Florida because that was where the license plate on her car was from. Her car that was parked behind our cars blocking them in the driveway. Which we only noticed when we needed to get out to pick up our Wings.
Yeah, we walk out to get a move on, guessing another 10 minutes for them to be ready and about a 5-10 minute drive.
As you can see in the image, nicely recreated if I may say so myself, there are 3! empty spots in the lot. If anyone can point out ANY logic for why one would even remotely think her parking where she did was the right thing, or even reasonable.
But what followed was even more strangely stupid.
After we walked around to the other people's who share the parking lot apartments to see if it was of their friends, to no avail, we called the towing company (scumbags in their own rights) to tow the car away. As Karen was on the phone, a girl came out of the apartment with a gaggle of other students and walked toward the car.
I asked "is this your car?" She said yes. I then sorta laid into her, "are you insane? Why would you park blocking us in like that. There are open spots and you chose to park behind two cars blocking them in?!"
"I'm sorry" she said. But frankly, I wanted to her to feel stupid and ridiculed, or at least embarrassed. She didn't. She had NO conscience about it.
"I figured you could just parallel park out of the spot."
Say what?!? We were parked about 6 inches from our front car and she was about 1.5 feet behind us. Perhaps I could have made it just fine - I'm not so great at the parallel parking. But who is this moron to tell me I have to do such an extreme thing just to get out of MY space???
"I'm trying to be nice." She said. As if I did something to her and she was doing me a favor. In sane. Followed by "I though Vermont was friendly" and even "I thought Vermont was nice" while I was still trying to get her to understand that I didn't understand why she would choose to park behind us when there were open spots - not to mention it is a private lot where she had no right to be parked in in the first place.
It's funny. People give me a strange look when I comment that I'm more or less a misanthrope, but people like this and situations like this only prove that people are stupid and can only really be trusted to do the most selfish things in the end. I feel like I need to track her parents down and slap them silly then ask them if they feel comfortable having raised such a stupid child. Then find out which college she goes to so I can make sure I never recommend that anyone ever apply to a place that would accept such an idiot into their student body. Yet another case of entitlement strikes again.
If you are a parent, please teach your child/ren than they are not infact the only important people around and that they are not exempt from some common decency and that if they pull this kind of crap on me, I will lay into them like you apparently never did.
As you can see in the image, nicely recreated if I may say so myself, there are 3! empty spots in the lot. If anyone can point out ANY logic for why one would even remotely think her parking where she did was the right thing, or even reasonable.But what followed was even more strangely stupid.
After we walked around to the other people's who share the parking lot apartments to see if it was of their friends, to no avail, we called the towing company (scumbags in their own rights) to tow the car away. As Karen was on the phone, a girl came out of the apartment with a gaggle of other students and walked toward the car.
I asked "is this your car?" She said yes. I then sorta laid into her, "are you insane? Why would you park blocking us in like that. There are open spots and you chose to park behind two cars blocking them in?!"
"I'm sorry" she said. But frankly, I wanted to her to feel stupid and ridiculed, or at least embarrassed. She didn't. She had NO conscience about it.
"I figured you could just parallel park out of the spot."
Say what?!? We were parked about 6 inches from our front car and she was about 1.5 feet behind us. Perhaps I could have made it just fine - I'm not so great at the parallel parking. But who is this moron to tell me I have to do such an extreme thing just to get out of MY space???
"I'm trying to be nice." She said. As if I did something to her and she was doing me a favor. In sane. Followed by "I though Vermont was friendly" and even "I thought Vermont was nice" while I was still trying to get her to understand that I didn't understand why she would choose to park behind us when there were open spots - not to mention it is a private lot where she had no right to be parked in in the first place.
It's funny. People give me a strange look when I comment that I'm more or less a misanthrope, but people like this and situations like this only prove that people are stupid and can only really be trusted to do the most selfish things in the end. I feel like I need to track her parents down and slap them silly then ask them if they feel comfortable having raised such a stupid child. Then find out which college she goes to so I can make sure I never recommend that anyone ever apply to a place that would accept such an idiot into their student body. Yet another case of entitlement strikes again.
If you are a parent, please teach your child/ren than they are not infact the only important people around and that they are not exempt from some common decency and that if they pull this kind of crap on me, I will lay into them like you apparently never did.
4 comments:
Aieee!
...but don't you allow for the fact that we're all humans who make minor errors in judgment like that... sort of a lot?
I know as your friend I'm supposed to share in your indignation at this woman's ridiculous choice to block other vehicles when easy alternative parking spaces are available... but instead I find myself relating strongly to the woman herself. So here I sit thinking, "Geez. I hope I don't get fussed at by a stranger if I should god forbid make such a dumb mistake like that."
I'm a smart cookie, but I'm not living a life completely free of dumb mistakes (or even major errors in judgment, but that's another story). I know you make little mistakes as well, although I can't bear to point them out because I don't see why anyone needs to be punished in any way for "the small stuff" we are not supposed to be sweatin'.
So while I definitely see your point and I appreciate how ranting in a blog is the RIGHT way to vent your frustration... I'm not sure how constructive it is to, sort of, you know, fuss at the lady in question, who was probably just thinking about something else at the crucial moment she put her car in park. (I say this purely out of empathy. I don' wanna be yelled at if I should do something like that. I know it would ruin my day and be all out of proportion to the crime.)
(Now you're wondering, "Wait... my friend? Who is this lady?" I'm Auliya from the KindleKorner mailing list, so I feel like we've been at the same proverbial dinner party for a month. :-) There - at least I've replied to one of your posts!)
Thanks for the comment Auliya. I am often called on to ignore and "let pass" really bad choices people make that effect me. I live in a college town where any given night I can have hours of drunken students wandering loudly around the street until 3am, waking us up all the time.
This instance however and her indignation were of entitlement and made me feel like a second class citizen - how someone else could make such an intentional decision that could completely impede me and then treat me like I'm supposed to be happy she was "being nice" to me.
Frankly, if I do something stupid, I expect to be told. If I do something that negatively impacts someone else, I expect to be yelled at even.
I think we need to stop giving passes to people who make decisions as if it doesn't matter who it effect - people rolling through stop signs, running red lights, leaving their high beams on at night, drinking parties on porches late at night in residential areas, vandalism... I could go on.
Based on the circumstances in this situation, I still strongly believe that this "woman" did the most disruptive, stupid and insensitive thing should could have to park (again, in a lot where she wasn't even permitted to be in the first place) to visit friends, also putting at risk any relationship between us and the friend-neighbors.
I left out the fact that half of the people who then climbed into the car did so with open beers. I was stupid for not calling the police on that one.
Thanks for posting - don't think I'm attacking you... just disagreeing. :)
Hi Chris! I don't feel attacked, no worries! I do understand wanting to call people on, as you put it, "really bad choices people make" - especially when the "really bad choice" impacts you directly. That's fair. But your post did not seem to communicate (to me) that it was a "really" bad decision on her part. Just a clueless one, aided and abetted by her bad attitude. Heck, I'd be out on the streets all day calling people to the carpet for that sort of thing if my threshold was that low. Still, I don't always practice what I preach, and I wasn't there either, was I! You know what you're doing. Please forgive me for my sudden burst of empathy for the enemy! :-)
This was an impressive and completely relevant blog on the, "mindset of a spoiled brat".
Yes, we as humans do make dumb mistakes, and even more "errors in judgement". However, to me this was not so much an error in judgement as it was a complete lack of respect for anything or anyone.
For one, this disregard of "private parking.
Two... even assuming, ok, perhaps the other three spots were not available when said idiot was in such a hurry to park. Only such a selfish person could think, "it's ok, they can manage out somehow." Never once thinking, "heh, these guys might just need to get out quickly to get some wings or something. If I am here that might hold them up." "heh, they might have me towed for being stupid." or "heh, i wonder if my parents would mind the extra charge for getting their car out of the tow lot?"
Personally, i don't beleive you let her have it enough. She should have felt like a moron, and maybe even cried a bit. Anything to make her understand she is not the only person in burlington worthy of breathing the clean air!
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