Throwing Sticks and Stones . . .Then the Finger

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I was driving home the other day when I approached a roundabout and had to yield to the traffic circling from my left. 

As I was waiting for the traffic to pass by, I started to daydream a bit.  Nothing horrible…just a slight moment of pathetic “dazed and confused” which lasted for all of five . . . okay . . . maybe ten . . . seconds.

I stress that time frame because due to my bewildered state of mind and unbeknownst to me, there was a very impatient woman in a minivan behind me, who took offense to the fact that I didn’t immediately start moving when the traffic cleared, so she honked to get my attention.

Being startled out of my stupor, I proceeded to move into the roundabout, and I also felt the need to politely honk my horn and peering in my rearview mirror, made a simple wave back to her in appreciation. 

And that’s all it was…a simple wave of the hand. 

But the impatient motorist behind me did not see it that way and decided to respond with a hand gesture of her own.  An unkindly retort that would be akin to a monkey throwing its poo. 

In other words. . . she gave me the finger.

At that moment I felt a sudden urge of pathetic frustration fill my soul, and my appreciative frame of mind turned sour.  It was then that my cordial wave turned into a single finger salute of discontent. 

I mean, how could I NOT return the gesture in a kindly, yet ever-so-subtle, display of toxic elation? 

She then decided to switch lanes and drive past me where we both had the opportunity to give one another passing glances.

Mine — A simple smile with a gentle wave of affection.

And her — Another mean-spirited hand gesture that just made me laugh out loud.

After which, she then proceeded to speed away at a frantic pace trying to make her exit from the objectified situation, but just then my laughter became even more hearty because . . . the traffic light at the next intersection turned red which meant she had to stop because she was too far away to run through it. . . and there wasn’t anyone between her and I. . . and I was now behind her.  (insert diabolical laughter here)

Of course, I didn’t plan to engage the situation any further because I realized she was probably having a bad day and needed that moment to release her frustrations. 

Perhaps she got bad news from the doctor, or maybe she had an argument with someone before she decided to climb behind the wheel of a three-quarter ton vehicle, or maybe she just woke up in a bad mood . . .  

No matter the reason, I was pretty confident that, had it not been me, some other poor intolerant sap would have been the object of her pathetic indifference and the situation would have clearly escalated further. 

However, before either of us could make eye contact or find out what might have transpired HAD we made eye contact, she darted abruptly across two lanes, veered into an empty turn lane and sped off in another direction.

As I sat waiting for the green light, I reviewed the situation that just happened and came to the understanding that whether it’s a simple hand gesture or a verbal word, it’s crazy how many times someone is in a bad mood and decides to take out their frustrations on another soul who may or may not deserve it. 

Fact is, everyone gets grumpy at times and some of us will throw a temper tantrum, then throw an object, then we regret throwing said object because it either damaged something or someone; and that’s normally when we settle back into a more tender-hearted disposition because we feel remorse for our actions.  

However, as of late, it feels like more cattle in the herd don’t feel the regret or remorse for hurting someone or something anymore.

For instance, take some of the pathetic crap that’s happening in the world right now and look at how little remorse people have for causing damage to something or someone.  It’s almost like these undisciplined drones enjoy causing pain, misery and reckless damage.  It’s almost like their hurtful actions add fuel to an inward rage that causes them to act out more aggressively and more often.

Maybe it’s just my own pathetic observations, but it sure seems like these deranged cattle really do enjoy throwing sticks and stones at everything and everyone.  And when the sticks and stones aren’t enough, they throw the proverbial finger of vexation.

It’s like they want to poke the proverbial bear, which only makes the bear unhappy, which makes the bear respond in retaliation, which causes unnecessary harm to the stick bearer, which causes the authorities to put the bear in a cage.  It’s a lose-lose for everyone involved.

Furthermore, I’m confident these demoralized prepubescents understand the ramifications of their actions and are purposely trying to incite a response from the bear; and this is where common sense and wisdom begs me to ask the following questions: 

Why bother poking the bear?
Heck!  Why bother picking up the stick in the first place?! 

Perhaps what the bear pokers don’t really understand is that pathetic behavior will only create more pathetic behavior.  It’s an endless cycle of pathetic and we can only hope that natural selection will finally win out in the end.  

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it — Pathetic is everywhere and if you can’t see it, you’re not paying attention.

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(disclaimer: no sticks or bears were harmed during the writing of this post) 

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