A Rant

Yesterday was Father's Day so DH and I went over to Doncaster, meeting up with my DSis at the Crem, so we could go lay flowers and cards for our Dad. It was busy, it was warm and the traffic had been awful on the way there, so we were ready for a drink and something to eat by the time we got back to my DSis's.

We pulled up outside my DSis's house behind her neighbour's horsebox (yes, he keeps a horsebox in a narrow residential street - go figure!). As soon as we pulled up the neighbour came out from the front of the box with a stroppy look on his face and making ushering away gestures with his arm, like a bolshy little bantam cock. Fine - maybe he was warning us he was going to be using the spray paint in his hand? I jumped out to go open the door.

Meanwhile my DSis arrived so DH had to move the car out of the way so she could get into her drive...... the bolshy neighbour immediately got his DD's boyfriend to help him push the horsebox back into the place (outside my DSis house) that DH had just moved from. Thinking he was just manoeuvring it DH stayed in the middle of the road, fully expecting the neighbour to roll it back out of the way. The DD's boyfriend went round the back of the box with the intention of doing this but the neighbour's reply was: No, bl**dy leave it there.

DH realised there was a problem and another car was now behind him so he drove our car further up the street and parked it. Meanwhile I just stood, totally gobsmacked by what had just happened..... then the chap appeared from behind the box, spotted me, froze, then said: All right? in an extremely aggressive tone of voice. If he hadn't have done that I wouldn't have said anything but his attitude just seriously rankled after seeing him do such a deliberately spiteful act.

My reply: I was alright when I thought we were going to be able to park there. Bolshy little bantam cock got his feathers ruffled by that and got all defensive: My wife needs to be able to get her car out of the drive to go to work. I didn't ask why the car wasn't on the front then or point out that he'd parked the horsebox in such a way his wife could have driven a doubledecker bus through the gap. Instead I said that was OK but I would have thought it perfectly reasonable to expect to be able to park outside of my DSis's home when we were visiting. He still kept mouthing off at me. So I said: actually, he didn't own the road. So the bantam cock kept telling me that I didn't live there. SO? My DSis does: why shouldn't visitors to her home be able to park outside? Perfectly logical and reasonable I thought but he was having none of it.

I could tell that I wasn't going to get anywhere with him, so just said: Unbelievable! and walked off shaking my head. The young chap didn't look none too happy and I think he tried to reason with him after I walked up the road to help get our things out of the car. I told DH what had happened - DH said nothing and we walked into my DSis's house with the guy grumbling and muttering away all the time in the same aggressive manner.

I was shaking and very upset by the whole thing and it's still getting to me today...... and my blood pressure is back up again. I know I shouldn't get wound up like this but: I have always liked to treat people the same way I'd like to be treated in turn (Harm None) and, in my naivety, expect that from others; I always try to avoid confrontation when possible, as standing up to a bully has always been difficult for me; such scenes are NOT good for my health. So meeting up with such outright aggressive and unreasonable behaviour and having such a small-minded, petty thing done to us when we were just going about our business is seriously upsetting. I just cannot understand people like that and feel like I've just been pushed back ten steps in my recuperation.

Though what really upset me about the whole thing was that not once did the neighbour even consider what day it was or why we were there and as a result his selfish actions helped to make what was already a difficult day even harder. Thank you so much for that Mr bolshy bantam cock!

OK, rant over - am hoping getting that off my chest will make me feel a whole lot better soon. :0)