Opinion: Can’t we all just get along?

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I have had it up to the top of my ginger head with mean people! Last week in particular, I saw more than my fair share.

One of my daughter’s besties picked a fight with her, jealous over the amount of time she’d been spending with another classmate. A man completely went off on me in the parking lot of my kids’ middle school, angry that I hadn’t seen his turn signal. And some old biddy was unhelpful to the point of being obstructive to a friend of mine who was just trying to apply for a job. Can’t we all just get along?

My daughter’s gal pal I can somewhat excuse.  She’s at that age where friendships are both sacred and flighty, and girl drama rules the school.  Insecurities, immaturity, and even the lunch menu can create intense situations that no one under 20 can be expected to handle gracefully. It doesn’t help that my child is Miss Sensitive, so the idea that somebody is mad at her, however irrational the reason, sends her into hysterics, which I’m then supposed to “handle.” No can do, my darling darling. Mom out!

The guy at the school I just don’t get at all.  I was in a long line of traffic trying to drop my son off and honestly never saw his signal indicating his intention to park in a spot he’d already missed. When he started to reverse, I honked. I didn’t want him to hit me and I felt like I couldn’t move. He kept on coming, so naturally I continued to honk.  He then rolled down his window and screamed me the riot act. Now maybe I was the spoiled icing on his terrible-day cake, but he didn’t have to behave that way.  A patient, “I’m so sorry, but could you please back up?” would have inspired my own brand of kindness.  Instead, I was forced to discover his true identity through Ninja-like stalking and file it under “Jerks.”

The next morning, a friend of mine relayed her own mean-people story.  While requesting her academic transcripts for a job application, the bitter spinster in charge outright refused to forward them because she thought the place of employment wouldn’t be interested in someone who didn’t have the “right qualifications.” What the what! Obviously something is dead inside that terrible woman, but why on earth would she treat a person like that?  Where’s the love?

Listen. With the frantic holidays around the corner, let’s just try to be nice to each other.  If nothing else, showing compassion will keep you from being tracked by a creative soccer mom with melodramatic tweenagers and frustrated, unemployed allies. Love you guys! Peace out.


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