People Are Scary!

Yeah, I'm a little bi-polar that way.  It takes me a while to get to know people, but once I'm comfortable around them I let my true self come out.  And I do find that most people, if you bother to get to talk to them, are actually very nice, "normal" people.  It's just that there are so many high-maintenance people out there - people with hidden agendas and bad attitudes and pre-conceived notions of how the world works, and they're all so set in their ways.  Yesterday I went to the mall with my friend who had her three little boys with her.  The oldest is 7, then a 3-year old and a 1-year old.  As we walked past the payphones there was an old man who was making a phone call.  The 7- and 3-year olds were kinda running around and we were trying to keep them from getting in people's way but I mean, come on.  They're little kids; you can only do so much before you're labeled the "crazy mom at the mall who was yelling at her kids."  We all know that lady - whether justified or not it's always awkward when a mom is screaming at her kids in a public place.  And my friend is not that woman.  So anyway this man on the phone was scowling at the kids and he put his finger up to his lips and made that "shhh" face and was totally looking at them (who were within 3 feet of him but hadn't touched him or anything) like he couldn't believe the audacity of these children, or us who were in charge of them.  How dare these children not be on leashes with muzzles on their face!  (he seriously looked like that's what he was thinking)  And the fact that he was in a MALL, in an open area between the washrooms and the food court, on a payphone, and he expected ANYONE to be quiet!!?? COME ON MAN!  YOU"RE IN A MALL WITH 5000 OTHER PEOPLE!!  aagghh.  This was in addition to the hundred other people who just scowled at the kids.  Seriously.  I know you're in a big rush to buy your designer pants or your new 400-dollar cellphone, because that's very important to your "I'm rich and cool" image, but when some really cute little kids are just having fun and their mom apologizes to you when they get in your way, maybe you could smile and say "that's OK," instead of looking at all of us like we're demon spawn.  You were little too, once, you know.

OK, so I have totally digressed from the original topic of this story, but it kinda ties in:  With so many CRANKY people everywhere, why even BOTHER trying to meet new people?  Most of them are jerks!  But then again, like I said earlier, if you actually bother to talk to them they're probably normal.  Maybe they're just having a bad day.  Maybe that old man on the phone was on his way to a prostate exam...