So Melissa and I are going to the movie. We saw Ocean’s 13 and it was very entertaining. However, that’s not the crux of this story.
We went to the Northpark AMC 15 Theater. Northpark is a mall here in Dallas and the theater is relatively new. Usually I don’t like going to theaters in malls, but this one is about the closest theater to our house, and the parking is usually better than most of the other theaters.
We’re looking for a parking spot when I turned down an aisle and first witnessed the shenanigans happening down at the other end. As we crept down the aisle looking for a spot to park, my gaze was locked on a small four-door sedan and a minivan.
At first it looked like the sedan was leaving a front row spot and the van was being impatient as it waited to park. However, it quickly became clear that the sedan was trying to twist its way around, via some very creative forward and reverse maneuvers, and steal this space from the minivan.
The minivan was doing its best to crowd, but not touch the sedan in order to somewhat forcefully persuade her not to park there.
It is important to know that there were two African-American ladies in the sedan, and a white lady driving the minivan.
Melissa and I were immediately entertained. The first thing we thought of was the Seinfeld episode where George gets into the parking dispute while trying to parallel park.
We’re laughing and having a good time, all the while waiting for them to get finished so we can find our own spot.
The sedan finally gets into the spot and the minivan starts to pull away and stops. I don’t mind telling you that I began to get a little worried. It’s a sad state of affairs, but people have been shot here in Dallas for much less.
The lady in the minivan rolls down the window and shouts at the top of her lungs, “That’s why everyone hates black people!” Then she drives off.
My first thought was, “Oh, why did you have to bring race into it?” Then I thought, “You mean, if you hate black people it’s because of the way they park?”
Then I saw the driver of the sedan shaking her head, and I decided I wanted to say something to her. I drove over to the exact spot that the other lady had made her idiotic remarks, stopped my car, looked over at the lady and smiled.
She looked back, but didn’t smile and seemed a bit guarded.
“I’m sorry she said what she said.” I told her. “That was very mean and it’s just not true, please don’t listen to her. I like you because of what you did! That was great parking!”
She smiled and her passenger said, “Thanks, but we never listen to people like that.”
I drove off feeling like I had done something good, fought the good fight.
It wasn’t long before that lady’s words started to haunt me, “We never listen to people like that…we never listen to people like that…we NEVER listen to people like that.”
I only happened to be there while these two ladies were treated like second class citizens. And it’s something they deal with enough to be able to say, “We never listen to people like that.”
I don't feel like I'm going through life with blinders on. I mean, I've seen my fair share of bad stuff, but I guess in reality I’m pretty sheltered.
Like I said, Some People are Really Stupid...
3 comments:
Maybe I'm confused. I read your post over a couple of times and still couldn't quite be sure I understood what you were trying to say. So my apologies are offered from the get go. Yes, making racial slurs of any type for any reason is not acceptable. And I'm sorry that these 2 ladies had to endure that. Having said that, am I wrong in reaching the conclusion that these ladies were guilty of trying to "steal" the parking place the van was waiting for? And if that's true, why would you want to condone that type of behavior? Like I wrote earlier, maybe I'm confused about who was driving what. And I want to stress again how disgusting it is to hear the damaging racial remarks these ladies received.
I don't know who got there first. I assume the drivers of both cars felt that they had gotten to the spot first.
However, while I see your point, it’s really just a parking space at a shopping mall. Can that really be stolen?
Yes, there is a kind of driver’s etiquette that says whoever gets there first gets the spot, but simply thinking you got there first doesn’t make the spot yours.
And really, it just made me laugh…well, until the racial comment was made.
I agree. Thanks for clearing up my confusion. And for being kind while you did it! :-)
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