She was basically expressing her distaste for a woman she had to work with and how this person was being completely unreasonable. And, honestly, I was starting to get frustrated myself with the description of how abhorrently this person was handling this situation. A true "But seriously, fuck that guy" moment, if you will. But, after asking my lady a little more about this person and where they were coming from, I had become a little more sympathetic of that person's vantage point and was thusly found on the other side of the fence.
Now, this minor discourse between the two of us was quickly forgotten. Like I said, I am very fortunate in that I share myself with someone who happens to be very mature and level headed about herself. We moved on and enjoyed the rest of our evening very much.
But, the next day it did get me thinking about this particular event that happened back when I was in high school . . .
One night, my younger brother, who was no older than the age of 8 at the time, awoke with a terrible fever. My parents quickly rushed him to the emergency room. Once they got there, my mother proceeded to head toward the front desk to check in. However, as soon as she was about to step in line, this other woman cut in front of her.
"Excuse me, I was in line."
"Yeah, well I was here before you."
"But, I saw you. You were sitting there off to the side."
"Yeah, well I'm front of you now. Deal with it."
This little exchange left my mother with a sour taste in her mouth. But, she decided to just let this one go, at least for the moment. At this juncture my mother was content to simply be patient and wait her turn. The line wasn't entirely too long so it didn't make much of a difference. However, the entire time they were in line, this woman was elevating the definition of "belligerent" to all new heights. She was raising her voice at anyone and everyone who got in her way eventually began to verbally assault the nurse at the front desk. Everyone in the waiting area was staring at her and was feeling the heat of this woman's temper. After she had exhausted herself, she promptly stomped to where she was originally seated. And there she sat to stew in her own inconsolable rage.
After my mother had had her up at the front desk, she sat down next to my father who was with my brother who'd fallen asleep. But, this entire time, my mother could not lick that bitter taste out of her mouth. Now, for those of you lucky enough to have never seen this woman get upset, it is certainly a terrifying sight to see.
The sheer audacity of this woman was enough to throw anyone into a fit. I mean, how dare she? Running around like she owns the damn place. Like she's the only one with an emergency, right? It's a fucking emergency room for CHRISSAKE! What makes her think she was that much bigger and that her shit was more important than anyone else's, right? I mean, seriously, FUCK that guy.
Now, after a few moments had passed my mother resolved to tell this bitch off and teach her a lesson. It was late, her baby had a 110 fever and this harpy had no fucking right to step all over these people the way she did. And, as soon as my mother stood up to go teach a bitch a lesson, an older man and young girl came running through the door.
Presumably, they were the awful woman's husband and daughter. They immediately met the woman with a giant embrace and they all began sobbing uncontrollably. Apparently, her son had gotten into a very serious accident. He was literally on his death bed that night and there was nothing any of them could do about it.
My mother later told me she had never felt smaller in her life. She had felt so guilty and she hadn't even said anything to the woman. But, just the mere fact that she was so angry and she was about to tell her off . . . all while this woman's son was in the ICU . . . it was almost too much to bear.
Now, there are people who are awful because they are awful people. But, there are people who are awful because they find themselves in awful situations. I'm not saying that finding yourself in those situations gives you license to be a giant asshole to everyone who crosses your path. I'm just saying that on the other end of this is that all the assholes you come across might not entirely be assholes. Just because someone crosses you the wrong way doesn't mean you have to react to it, does it? I mean, do you really want to be the person who's yelling at that woman in the emergency room?