so, tonight, as A2C and I are walking to our car, we notice 2 men in a van trying to park in front of us. As we drew closer, we noticed that they were bumping up against our car. I told the man in the street that we were about to leave, and could they pull out for a second to allow us to leave. This would allow them to park their vehicle much more comfortably, rather than playing bumper cars to get in.
Of course, they didn’t speak english. Nor did they seem to understand the rudiments of logic and the laws of the physical world. They refused to move their car, and insisted we back up to let them in. No amount of explanation would get this simple concept through to them.
I told them they were damaging our car, and to please stop. So, the guy on the sidewalk begins grabbing the fender of our car and trying to put it back in place (he didn’t actually damage that part. It was damaged before, but he thought they did it)
Then, it happened. Something in me snapped, and I completely lost my patience with these two. So did A2C. Their continuous chatter was really irritating me, and the fact that they would not see the simple solution to the situation was making me furious. It was not a pretty sight. In hindsight, I’m not proud of the way I acted towards those two men. I took down their license plate number and asked the driver for his license. He said he had one, but of course, didn’t produce it. I wasn’t getting anywhere here, and I was getting more and more upset. I finally convinced A2C that we should just squeeze our way out, and just get out of the situation. She was also very upset at these two and was not in a mood to be trifled with.
Now, hours after the incident, I find it hard to sleep. I want to let it go, because there was no real damage done, and I feel bad for my behavior. On the other hand, I can’t get over how stupid these guys were. Firstly, their car was clearly NOT going to fit in the spot they chose. Secondly, could they not understand that parking would be easier with our car out of the equation?
Thinking back, we both prayed for forgiveness for losing our tempers and for the very un-christlike display of anger. I think the reason I got so upset was because I couldn’t get them to understand something I thought was so simple, and I couldn’t communicate with them. This is one test of patience I’ve failed, but I see that I’ve failed, and I pray I’ll do better in the next situation like this 🙁