Mean Humans

Humans can be mean. It seems recently increasingly so. I have been seeing people get particularly bent out of shape driving. I came to a stop at a stop sign down a hill recently and my purse fell off the seat next to me and spilled on the floor. I reached over to just turn it upright and drove on and took a glance at the person in the car behind me. He was motioning with his hands up, clearly distressed that my stop at the sign took more than the requisite 3 seconds, it was likely a whopping 6 second stop. He then passed me on the main road and gave me the "you just ran over my dog look" and sped on. I recognized him too, a doctor in Corning, I won't be going to him for sure. What is UP with people? I had a man and his family recently give me that same look and slam their minivan trunk and peel out in the parking lot at work, hurling stones because I politely (and apologetically) told him we don't allow dogs on our trails at this property. (Not my choice, but I have to enforce it). He and his wife were definitely not setting a good example for their cute little boys. Speaking of parents and kids, I have seen people getting mad during kids sporting events, yelling at the refs and coaches and the kids because things weren't going their way. I have seen more than my fair share of coaches being the yellers.

There is a man that calls work for one of our other employees, when she isn't in (and she isn't a lot because her work requires her to be out of the office a fair amount), he sighs loudly and gets mildly irate, which is totally unnecessary because it isn' t anyone's fault that she isn't here. I have other examples, but I don't want to get too down here. Maybe I am just noticing more or am having a streak of bad luck encounters or maybe it is because the economic climate is so bad that makes everyone on edge. All I know is, people need to step back a bit. Mean doesn't get you anywhere except maybe on a track to heart disease. Mean makes you look like a jerk. And humans are the only animals capable of being mean and therefore looking like jerks; not something to celebrate or aspire to.