So last night I’m doing my laundry at the local Laundromat in Woodside. I usually am a good husband and take the larger loads for my wife up to the 24 hour place on Sunday nights to give her a break (and to watch either late NFL game or Sunday night baseball on their TV).
So my wash cycle is starting to come to an end and I go and look for a laundry bin to transfer to the dryers. I see one planted against the dryers and there’s a man sitting nearby eating peanuts. I also see that the dryer that the bin is near has just recently ended it’s cycle.
Me: “Excuse me, is anyone about to use this?”
Guy: “Silent”
Me: “Um…hey there, excuse me. Are you going to use this bin?”
Guy: (Angrily) “DO YOU SEE ANYONE USING IT?”
Me: “Uh…no.”
Guy: “THEN TAKE IT, STUPID!”
(OK now I usually ignore such behavior, but I HATE doing laundry, so I’m not in a great mood)
Me: “Hey man, I asked you a question…and I asked you nicely, you don’t have to be a snot.”
Guy: “F**k you. Walk!”
Me: (Starting to walk away)…”Dude, that ain’t right! The laundry in the dryers that have stopped could have been yours and you might be just about to use the bin. And I’m trying to make sure that I’m not going to take what you were about to use. And by the way, there’s no need to curse at me.”
Guy: “F**k your mother, you white trash son of a (inaudible).”
Me: “Keep talking, man…keep talking. (walking away)”
Guy: “White trash faggot, get out of here.”
Me: (looking directly at the guy) “DUDE! Keep running your mouth…(walk to my machine) go ahead keep it up.” (beginning to take my laundry out and into the bin)
Guy: (backs down)
I’m really not a violent person but this guy got to me. So today let us pray that cooler heads always prevail. Obviously we can all be a bit irritable when someone asks what we think is a stupid question and then we can all escalate when someone calls us a name or curses at us. Perhaps both of us touched on some insecurities or even just were the straw that broke the camel’s back for the other. Regardless, it’s a stupid argument.
Today let us pray for peace in our cities and amongst each other.