Yesterday, Mark and I took Ricky to the Bristol Renaissance Faire - just over the Illinois and Wisconsin border - as his reward for potty training. It was a nice day - great weather and the three of us were just excited to have a family day.
Let me start off by saying that I am always courteous to others - including strangers. I am the type of driver who lets people in front of me (as long as they use their turn signal) when driving, or lets the pregnant or elderly woman use the next available bathroom stall. As a librarian, I've been trained to be nice to people I don't know - but also to confront people when they're doing things they shouldn't be doing.
So Ricky and Mark were in line for the Ship Swings - which are these three wooden ships that swing. I was standing by the fence - just a few feet away from them, camera ready.
The line probably has about 16 groups waiting in line. Suddenly, the parade comes by - complete with the king and queen and their loyal subjects. All the people in line turn their heads to watch - but they are STILL in line.
Ricky and Mark were the 5th in line at the time, and this man who looked like Neuman from Seinfeld and his 5 year old daughter come up to the front of the line (next to where I was standing) and he said, "Can't tell where the line starts!!" - Clearly grasping the opportunity that the majority of the people in line have their heads turned the opposite direction. So he stood at the front of the line on the side with his daughter and didn't look like he was going anywhere. So I went up to him - about 8 inches away from his face and said, "Sir, the line starts back THERE" pointing to the back of the line. He totally pretended not to hear me.
Ok, if you want to play that way -
So he keeps standing there while the people in line go in the ride. Twice, I made motions for Mark to MOVE UP and he shrugged at me - clearly unaware of the man line-jumping. Sure enough, the man and his daughter make their move - and who do they cut in front of? Mark and Ricky.
The ship swing they were waiting for was right in front of me so of course I had to say something. I told him that it wasn't cool to line-jump and asked him if he felt good about setting an example for his daughter - letting her see that line-jumping is cool? He was very defensive and said that my husband should have spoken up, or moved up. I told him that I did tell him where the line was and that he pretended not to hear me. Any decent person would admit fault but this man raised his voice to the point of yelling at me. (for what?) I didn't swear because of the kids, but he was such an idiot that I left the conversation and said to him twice, "You're a loser." That actually hurt his feelings - I could tell from his face.
He looked at my belly and then told Mark that he and Ricky could take his ship. My husband said no, it was ok, but the man said that I was "freaking out" and insisted.
I guess I probably wouldn't have cared so much, but we had already waited 15 minutes in the heat for this ride - and I am pregnant and hormonal and didn't want to wait any longer than necessary - and this guy would cause me wait longer than I needed to.
After the ride, Mark told me he really didn't mind if the guy cut or not. I couldn't believe my ears because this is the same man who curses in the car when people try to merge in front of him. I have witnessed him intentionally tail-gating the car in front of him so the car merging can't get in front of us.
I guess I can't believe this guy would cut in line in front of so many little kids and their parents and not even care. It just goes to show that there are people out there who are so rude and inconsiderate of others and only care for themselves. I guess I run into so many nice people at the stores and the park on a daily basis that I have come to expect people to be nice in general.
So would you have said something to this guy - or would you have been silent and let him cut in front of so many people? Most of the people I have told this story to have told me that they would have stayed silent. Are you fricking kidding me?
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