Parking Lot Rage

I grew up in a home without prejudices. My parents, especially my dad, set a wonderful example of equality of races. The *N* word was absolutely forbidden, maybe even more than the *F* word, and I never heard either spoken by my parents. I hope that I am setting the same example for my own kids, though I have felt a little concern because in the last two years, the towns we have lived in have not had a whole lot of diversity. All the more reason to move back to California.

But yesterday's experience left me un-easy, and left me wanting to confront people, even though they appeared to be threatening. I am visiting my family and friends "at home" in California, and my mom and I were stopping by a near-by grocery store. I should mention, that this grocery store was not in the getto, but in an up-scale neighborhood, where the home prices are $400,000 to $600,000 (maybe even higher). In the crowded parking lot, a maroon-colored Suburban packed full of young, black men got extremely angry with me because I wouldn't 'let them in' to the growing traffic back-up. Truth be told, I tried to let them in, but when I put the car in reverse, the car behind me didn't get the hint, and I was stuck. Once the cars started moving, this Suburban was then able to pull behind me and express their anger. They were screaming at me, honking at me, waiving their arms at me, and need I mention flipping me off?

I was not at fault. They didn't have the right-of-way. These were just impatient boys who should be used to tolerating traffic, after all, they live in a valley with millions of commuters. I wanted to jump out of the car and shove it right back on them. What was their hurry? Were they trying to impress each other with their attempt to scare me? Were they trying to maintain an image?

Though I took the safe route by staying put in the car and continuing to drive through the crowded parking lot, I wished I could have pointed out how 'out of line' they were, how idiotic their behavior was, and that they were just plain stupid.