Not my day, Not at all

So I’m counting yesterday from 2pm to today 2pm as my day. This is because it was yesterday at 2pm when I found out that all of my church and wedding files on my external hard drive were completely wiped out. Yes, that’s right, completely. Completely wiped out, completely empty, completely sucks. Now I’m fishing for files and will have to recreate a tonne more. Hopefully I have hard copies of everything lying around somewhere but it’s going to be very crappy trying to get it back.

This morning, I passed by a construction site that I almost always pass going to work only to be cut off by a pick-up truck driver who proceeded to cuss me out. Why? Because he had a bunch of people pulled over to the side of the road so he could get another truck to back in.

There are always cars pulled to the side of the road and parked because they belong to the construction guys so I didn’t think that these cars were any different. Yes, this is my fault for not noticing that there were actual people in these cars and then by-passing them. However, it really sucked that this man chose to use the most vulgar language to scream and yell at me, leaving me in utterly shocked and speechless. To top that off, later, when all cars were given the OK to pass, a guy pulled out of that line and sped past me, only to stop to scream something at me and give me the finger.

I don’t get it. I mean, I do get that people have the right to be angry or upset. What I don’t get it how they release this anger. The road rage, the swearing, the screaming, the finger. Don’t these men have wives, daughters, mothers? I’m not saying that women are a different breed and that men should tread lightly around them. I’m only saying men because in this instance they were men.

Does it make you a better person? Does this teach the other person a lesson when you treat them or react to them in such a fashion? I would have been quite sorry and apologetic if the man who cut me off had decently explained the situation to me. Man, if given the chance, I’d have apologized to all in the queue. Instead I was just in shock, hurt, and frankly on the verge of tears. The other guy who flipped me the bird, well, no words can express.

I can’t fight back in these moments, nor do I want to stoop to a more shoddy playing field altogether. It definitely helps me in a way, to be exposed to this kind of stuff. Not only on the road but in this life in general. Every swear word starting with A, F, B or S. It’s like I ask Danny…if you were in a job interview for the position of a lifetime, what words would you use? If you can prove to me that you can use any of those a-f-b-s words, then I guess they don’t count as swearing, or you just don’t want that multi-million job as bad as you really thought. Most people would avoid using those words because they’re hell-bent on making a great first impression. The scary thing is that I wouldn’t be surprised if someday soon, this too will be acceptable in job interviews.

I’m sitting in the office now and I’m sure I’ll have a barrage of problems to continue my day, especially since I know that some people here have it out for me too. They’d just love to see me hanging up in a shooting range and sometimes it feels like they’re at point blank.

Everywhere I go, and even with the EM congregation at our church, I hear, read and see these words and actions and it makes me wince every time. It helps me remember why I don’t do those things, or make a point not to do such things to others. I’d hate to be the one to ever make anyone feel as shocked or horrible as I feel today.