Bullies…can’t beat ’em, don’t join ’em

A few weekends ago I was dropping my fiancé off to a coworkers cabin for a retirement party with several of her colleagues.  In doing so, I had to take an off-road which lead essentially to a crescent of cabins, a beautiful area just outside of the city of St. John’s but the road was a little worse for wear.  Once we made it to the cabin I gave my fiancé a kiss goodbye and began my trek back home. Instead of backtracking,  I decided to continue on around the crescent not truly knowing when I would meet the main road again, but I had lots of time. So, I was in no hurry.

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, the cabins all seemed like they belonged where they were built, nestled in quaint locations and right next to the water.  Such a calming atmosphere, definitely a great place to get away from the city to enjoy some peace and quiet.  So, there I was taking it all in and making my way down the winding road, passing by people who were walking, driving all-terrain vehicles and others, just out and about enjoying their property.

As I trudged along, I did pass by these two gentlemen that seemed like they were doing some site work on a newly built property That’s not something out of the norm mind you, but one of the guys I noticed, seemed to be finishing up for the day.  He began to start following me in his big truck as we both traversed the off-road dodging potholes and taking our time.  Well, at least I was taking my time. I was in a car so my floor was a lot more lower to the ground than his truck, so I needed to be more delicate with my speed. The gentleman behind me wasn’t at all fazed by the horrible condition of the road, nonetheless, he had to respect the fact that I was being more careful.

Respect was the theory at least, for the longest time since he had started out behind me we weaved back and forth getting that much closer to the main road without fault.  Then out of nowhere came this one point in the road where for a short moment he had the opportunity to pass due to the road being a little wider, he suddenly without warning opts to pass me, actually, he flew past me and in doing so he blasted the driver’s side of my car with water, rocks and debris from the unforgiving cabin road. It certainly gave me quite the shock, I was both surprised and angry at the same time that he had made such a bold maneuver, so I blew my horn in disgust.

As I blew my horn I noticed he was stopping his truck, then in the middle of the road, in the middle of nowhere he exits his truck and gestures to me, he postures up in a way that could have been interpreted as a challenge to a fight.  Mouthing the words through my windshield as best I could, I questioned him, trying to make sense as to why he chose to pass me the way he did, why did he feel the need to take advantage of the opportunity with only a short distance to go to the highway.  I mean, he had already spent most of the time behind me without an issue.  I chose not to exit my car because that would have escalated things and I was not in the mood to debate the rules of the road in the middle of the country with no one around to witness this Neanderthal beating his chest.  So after he realizes that I’m not another peacock flashing my big feathers in retort, he gets in his truck and speeds off violently.

I was so bothered by that afterward that it ate at me all night and well into the next day.  I was replaying the incident over and over in mind, thinking in hindsight of alternative outcomes to that confrontation. I asked myself, “was he really going to get physical over something like that?” “Did he not see any fault in what he had done?”  “Zero to bully just like that?”.

After I cooled down and swallowed my pride I chalked the whole thing up to the fact that yes, this guy was just another bully, they come in all forms and they show up no matter the scenario.  I did the right thing by turning the cheek, nothing that petty was worth any personal victory won by using force, and stooping to that guys level only proved I’m just as bad.

Look, be the bigger person, just walk away, don’t give these bullies the satisfaction that they control you in any way.  Let them be the dumb jerks that they choose to be because there has to be something lacking in their lives.  Most of us are respectable people who are kindhearted and courteous to others, but some will, unfortunately, be that guy or girl who cuts you off, steals your recess money or badmouths you to the boss, just remember, they hate their lives, not yours.