The setting for this adventure has been altered slightly to protect the guilty.

I was on a quest to find a lost item. Its location put it beside a small strip shopping center. I parked and immediately went to where I guessed it was. Failing to find it I returned to the car to call for more specific details.

Everything sounded like it should be easy to find. I was returning to look again, when a youngish chap stepped out of the pizza joint in this shopping center and asked in a demanding tone, “Can I help you?” I confess, even a 70, I don’t take well to arrogant young toughs ordering me around, but I replied politely, “No thank you.” He then stepped in front of me and repeated in a harsh tone, “MAY I HELP YOU!.” I replied in a sterner tone, “NO! Thank you.”

At this point I’m not sure what he said, while blocking my path, but it must have been something to the effect of ‘What are you doing.’ At that time I was about 70 or so feet from my destination and simply walking on the sidewalk, so I replied something like, “I’m not sure what that has to do with you.” He said, in a tone you’d tell a dog to stop chewing on your best chair, “You’re in one of our parking spots.” As I later realized, every parking place in that little center was marked for a shop – there was no open parking. I was actually parked near or beyond the far left wall of the pizza place. Nonetheless I instantly said, “I didn’t realize that and I’ll move immediately. I couldn’t help but notice there were 3-4 empty parking places directly in front of the pizza joint. [It was mid afternoon, accounting for why he had nothing better to do than hassle me.] I turned and began walking back to my car to leave. He shouted after me, “I’m calling the cops on you.” I continued to my car as I retorted, “Screw you too.” [Expletive changed, for public consumption.] He yelled, so now you cussing me, aye — what’s that about.” I said, “Because you’re a snot,” and got into my car. He yelled, “It’s good you’ll me dead in ten years old man.” As I was pulling away, he made a production of reading my license plate while calling someone on his cell phone. As far as I know business-reserved shopping center parking space violations are aren’t yet criminal offences (soon probably), so I don’t know who he intended me to think he was calling.

I rarely wish I was 30 again, but had I been today I would have made a yeoman’s try at waxing the parking lot with this young wisenheimer.

Please Click Here and read Part 1 before reading this.

When I arrived there were about 10 people in line. For this place, that’s a long line. I know the line moves slow here, so I said to the guy at the end of the line, “Gosh, this is a very long line. I think I’ll come back another day.” He replied, “It’s moving pretty good today.” So, I stayed.

A minute of so later a young woman walked in and joined a guy midway forward in line. A short while after that two young girls join the guy who, in Part One, was later joined by the middle aged lady and the chap with whom I had the encounter. A few minutes after this a young man arrives and joins a young woman in front of the first woman who’d come in late.

So, once the guy with the two children in Part One arrived, all these people had been added to a line I’d been waiting in for 10 minutes. And, he was the fourth person to join this same chap at the head of the line. It takes 1-2 minutes to serve a customer there, so collectively these people added about 8-12 minutes to the wait time of a line I was originally going to walk away from, because it was too long to begin with.

Does this change your mind about who you thought was behaving badly at the end of Part One? If so, why?

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I’m relating this anecdote in two parts and asking you to decide which person, if either, was out of line (pun intended). I’m posting this because I’m really not sure who was behaving the least civilly, me or the other guy. I’m interested in what others think

Please don’t read the second part until you have decided your answer to part one, and please don’t post comments until you’ve both parts. I’ll post part two tomorrow

Recently I went to a sandwich shop to pick up a sandwich for lunch.

At this place you go through a single file serving line. As your turn arrives you tell servers, in an assembly line fashion, your choices for each many ingredients and options you want on your sandwich.

I’ve been waiting in a moderately long line (for this place) with about 8 people ahead of me now who’re waiting to been served. A middle age lady walks in and joins the person who will be served next – that is, joins the person at the front of the line. I say nothing. About 30 seconds later a 30ish man arrives with two children of about 8 years in tow, and joins the same people. I say in a moderate tone “The end of the line is back there.” He ignores me. So I say in a louder voice “Uh, pardon me. The end of the line is back here.” At this point he turns and begins making sarcastic remarks. About that time a lady who was already being served said to me “Oh, he’s my husband.” I say, “I didn’t figure he was a stranger.”

At this point he says “Okay, I’ll just have my friend order for us,” left the line and walked up to me and began hurling ugly insults. He threw in “Whatever happened to southern hospitality?” To which I replied “It doesn’t apply to rude people who jump line.” More insults, followed by, “I was in line a few minutes ago and left to do something.” I reply, “I was in line day-before-yesterday and left. Does that put me ahead of you?” More insults, followed by, “It’s people like you who are coarsening society.”

I wanted to ask, ‘I wonder who’s coarsening society most — people who jump line or people who point out line jumpers?’ But, he seemed to have wound down, so discretion prevailed.

The End, Part One.

I tried to be accurate/neutral, but I’m sure I must have presented this in a light favorable to me. The question is, who was out of line here? Decide before reading part 2.