Scene: A Wal-mart, Saturday night after midnight. Mrs. M and I were shopping for overnight things as we decided to stay in a Newburgh hotel after a sweet day driving, attending an antique auto show, driving and shopping in Woodstock, holding hands, romantic dinner, listening to the iPod, grooving, digging.
We split up in the store. A few minutes later, she finds me and she's shaking.
She was minding her own business, perusing cosmetics, and three went by---mother, daughter, man daughter's age.
Daughter says, in a loud voice, "Short, fat and orange!" Referring to both my wife's weight and her red hair.
Mrs. M was stunned. And hurt.
She absorbed the blow, too shocked to even respond to a taunt made by three obvious cretins, then changed her mind and went looking for the three. She found the man and confronted him. Asked him what he got out of attacking a woman minding her own business.
She said this man was so slow, so stupid, so a child in an adult body that it wasn't even worth pursuing. He denied the young woman with the group was talking about Mrs. M.
When you confront a coward, they will back down.
I had forgotten there were people like this in the world.
When we got to the the car, I pulled around the front of the store and waited.
I was going to give them a taste of MY reaction to such a statement.
Me, whose childhood fat was twisted, punched and ridiculed by 3 out of 4 members of my family.
It would be a pleasure. Didn't matter how many of them there were. I have a big mouth.
But we just said to hell with it and drove to the hotel. Next day, nice drive, nice meal, nice visit to the gym.
Wonder what the three are doing right now.
Probably wandering around letting the air out of the tires of the cars in handicapped parking spots, or sitting around with their fingers in their noses.
We split up in the store. A few minutes later, she finds me and she's shaking.
She was minding her own business, perusing cosmetics, and three went by---mother, daughter, man daughter's age.
Daughter says, in a loud voice, "Short, fat and orange!" Referring to both my wife's weight and her red hair.
Mrs. M was stunned. And hurt.
She absorbed the blow, too shocked to even respond to a taunt made by three obvious cretins, then changed her mind and went looking for the three. She found the man and confronted him. Asked him what he got out of attacking a woman minding her own business.
She said this man was so slow, so stupid, so a child in an adult body that it wasn't even worth pursuing. He denied the young woman with the group was talking about Mrs. M.
When you confront a coward, they will back down.
I had forgotten there were people like this in the world.
When we got to the the car, I pulled around the front of the store and waited.
I was going to give them a taste of MY reaction to such a statement.
Me, whose childhood fat was twisted, punched and ridiculed by 3 out of 4 members of my family.
It would be a pleasure. Didn't matter how many of them there were. I have a big mouth.
But we just said to hell with it and drove to the hotel. Next day, nice drive, nice meal, nice visit to the gym.
Wonder what the three are doing right now.
Probably wandering around letting the air out of the tires of the cars in handicapped parking spots, or sitting around with their fingers in their noses.
