Vindicated.

Here I am, starting trouble in a public place again.

So I went to the grocery store for a quick milk run. Two gallons of milk and I'm out, right? Wrong.

I get to the express checkout. There are two people ahead of me and three more soon line up behind me, all of us with one or two items.

The woman in front of me (who has thirteen items in her cart, I note, on a lane which screams "Ten items or less!!!!"), abruptly walks away from her cart and disappears into the depths of the store. Not a word to the cashier or to those of us who're in line behind her.

The cashier looks nonplused, because now she's finished with her last customer and is waiting for the next one, and this woman's nowhere to be found.

I look at the woman behind me. She shrugs and says, "You snooze, you lose." I grin at her, move the cart off to the side, and put my two gallons of milk on the counter.

I'm getting my change from the transaction when the woman whose cart I pushed off to the side finally returns. She gives me a dirty look (and another one to the woman who was behind me, who is now putting her items on the checkout), and says, "Thanks a lot."

Now, I am really tired of people giving ME attitude when THEY are the ones that are at fault. I boiled over hard and fast.

I finish getting my change and raise my voice to a not-quite-a-shout, addressing the store in general. "Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, can I ask you all a question for a minute?"

Heads turn, curious, as I continue. "This woman" -- and here I pointed to the woman with the cart -- "was in front of me and three other people at the checkout. She wandered away without saying a word to any of us. Now she's mad that we pushed her cart aside and took her spot when it was her turn. Anybody think I did anything wrong?"

I see people trying to cover their grins. The woman with the cart looks REALLY pissed now. "Nobody think so? 'Swhat I thought. Thanks, everyone. Have a good day."

The woman snaps at me, "You didn't have to do that. All I said was 'Thanks a lot.' I'm just sayin'. You don't need to be tellin' me what I got to do."

"Yes, I think he does," the woman who had been behind me in line says unexpectedly as the cashier rung her up. "He's right. You just walked off. All YOU had to say was 'Can you folks wait a second while I go get another item?' We'd have been fine with that. No, you just had to make everyone else wait on YOU. It IS your fault, and we didn't do anything wrong."

Murmurs of agreement from the other people in line. I grinned and wished the cashier (and this other friendly woman) a nice day, and walked out, feeling vindicated.

I've said it before and I will say it again. I will take responsibility for my actions, and I will admit when I'm wrong. If you give ME an attitude problem when you're at fault, don't expect any sympathy from me.

-- END OF LINE --

Currently playing: Megadeth -- Rust in Peace. The quintessential thrash album. "Hangar 18" is, quite possibly, the perfect thrash tune.