I see it every day. Some of the people who live here and many of the people that visit to ski have a sense that they’re more important than anyone else. They sneak in front of you in a merge lane or use the shoulder to pass and cut in front. Yesterday a man at Whole Foods left a large cart in front of me, at an angle, so I couldn’t pay for my groceries without lifting it to get it out of my way.
Here’s the kicker, today, four days before Christmas snow and ice and slush are everywhere on the roads, in parking lots. There are three mailboxes designed for car access near the post office. One person was pulled up and the woman in the passenger seat was writing, writing, stamping and placing one envelope at a time while blocking all three mailboxes, with her flashers on. Four cars (mine was the third) were waiting,for over ten minutes, for this woman to stop blocking us from getting around her, and others on the main road behind her SUV.
Finally a car pulled out and I drove through six inches of compressed snow and ice to get around her (thank you Blizzacs and AWD) only to have her back up and nearly hit me on my way to the grocery store.
Perhaps I grew up in a different era, but I would never imagine blocking three mailboxes in a snowstorm with people waiting and writing my holiday cards, address, affixing a stamp and putting them one by one in the box. That’s what a desk or dining table is for. Even the counter at the post office!
It’s the same people who say, “Oh, you rent” then don’t talk to you anymore. Sometimes I play with them and throw in Del Mar, La Jolla or different arts organizations and all of a sudden I’m worthy of being spoken to! That’s the end of the game for me, after all we’re both shopping for hummingbird food at Wal Mart. Let’s just say they aren’t invited to brunch or brought soup when they’re ill.
To all those who look down upon the peons of the world with disdain, what goes around comes around. If you treat your maid and gardener badly, it’ll come back some day some time. That’s what I’m counting on for a few choice people, mainly in the working world, who tried to make my life miserable. No, I’ll never get them for what they did but their actions will one day. I don’t know where they live or work, but they’ll eventually come to the attention of someone who can do something about it. Perhaps on judgment day, who knows.
Do unto others is something I’ve taken to heart since I was a little girl. I was taught when I erred but pretty much had a good moral compass. I don’t take anything for granted and treat everyone fairly. If I cut you off in traffic, it was probably because a cyclist entered my lane and I didn’t want to hit him. Sometimes it’s unintended, but personal slights in everyday situations where the offender has no clue they’ve been offensive, offend me. Hear that, rich ski people in for the holidays? Cheers, be nice to your waitress, your maid, driver, porter, ski instructor and nanny. Dee
Cooking with Dee 
Yes, people who think the world revolves around them…what a joy. I had a similar experience last week in the small town where I grew up. It was in the parking lot of the small shopping plaza. I (and 3 cars behind me) were trying to park but had to wait for someone who had inexplicably stopped in the road. I couldn’t see beyond the car in front of me, so thought maybe there was a long line of traffic waiting to pull out on the road or something. Turns out, no, “she” had just decided to stop. After about 10 minutes (seriously, and no one honked!) a policeman came out of the police station in the plaza and made her move on (because she was blocking his parked car!). She simply pulled a little further down the plaza and into a parking spot. No clue why she was sitting there with traffic piling up behind her (or why none of the drivers who could see what was happening complained. I would not have been so generous…that’s what horns are for!)