Me rude??? Never!
Yesterday I was meeting a friend for breakfast at IHOP. My friend beat me to the restaurant by a few minutes and was already seated at a table by the time I arrived.
As I walked in the front doors, there were about 6 people waiting to be seated; a family of 4 and two ladies up front. The family was seated and the ladies were standing at the entry point of the seating area.
I paused behind the ladies as I scanned the restaurant for my friend. When I saw him, I said, "Excuse me" and proceeded to walk between the ladies towards my table. One of the ladies took a step to her left as I was walking past her which pushed me ever so slightly into her friend. I paused, looked at them both and said, "I'm sorry" and then continued on to the table.
I had been sitting at the table for no more than 2 minutes when one of the ladies came to our table and said, "You ran me over. Did you run into me because I'm wearing a Red Sox hat or because I'm small?" At first I thought she was kidding me so I smiled at her. At this point she said, "Do you think I'm kidding?"
Since I was behind her, there's no way I could have seen the front of her baseball cap and although this lady was short, she was by no definition of the word, small. In fact, it was her short, stocky build that caused my 6'1" tall, 225 pound body to veer off course and into her friend.
A sudden barrage of rude comments about clumsy bulldogs suddenly filled my brain and headed down towards my mouth where they were quickly intercepted by my filter. Instead, I told her, "Yes I saw you and said excuse me as I started to walk between you. When you took a step to your left and we bumped into each other, I stopped and told you I was sorry."
Now I'll admit, I probably still had a smile on my face because of the absurdity of the situation, but I said the words with the utmost sincerity. She told me, "well you're rude!". I told her, "I've already apologized once, but again, I' sorry".
She put her Red Sox cap back on and mumbled something unintelligible as she stormed off. My friend was clearly rattled by the situation and sat there with his mouth agape as he tried to figure out what to say to me. Instead, I beat him to the punch and asked him about the menu.
The ironic part of this story is her calling me rude. I may be a lot of different things, but rude is not one of them. I was raised by my mother and taught to always tell people please and thank you. If we're at a concert and someone steps on my foot, I say "sorry" to them. If you go out in public, there are dozens of times when you may bump into someone or be bumped into yourself. It happens so much most people don't even give it a second thought. You say excuse me and you're both on your way.
But if we're going to talk about rude, let's talk about this lady's reaction. She walked from her table, which was in a completely different area of the restaurant, to try to put me in my place. Her attitude lacked subtlety or sophistication and was extremely impolite. If you look up the word RUDE in the dictionary, I believe you'll find one or possibly all of those as the actual meaning of the word.
I guess if you walk this earth with a chip on your shoulder, you could find someone every day that just might accidentally knock it off.
Sorry. That's the way I see it......
Corvette Ronnie
As I walked in the front doors, there were about 6 people waiting to be seated; a family of 4 and two ladies up front. The family was seated and the ladies were standing at the entry point of the seating area.
I paused behind the ladies as I scanned the restaurant for my friend. When I saw him, I said, "Excuse me" and proceeded to walk between the ladies towards my table. One of the ladies took a step to her left as I was walking past her which pushed me ever so slightly into her friend. I paused, looked at them both and said, "I'm sorry" and then continued on to the table.
I had been sitting at the table for no more than 2 minutes when one of the ladies came to our table and said, "You ran me over. Did you run into me because I'm wearing a Red Sox hat or because I'm small?" At first I thought she was kidding me so I smiled at her. At this point she said, "Do you think I'm kidding?"
Since I was behind her, there's no way I could have seen the front of her baseball cap and although this lady was short, she was by no definition of the word, small. In fact, it was her short, stocky build that caused my 6'1" tall, 225 pound body to veer off course and into her friend.
A sudden barrage of rude comments about clumsy bulldogs suddenly filled my brain and headed down towards my mouth where they were quickly intercepted by my filter. Instead, I told her, "Yes I saw you and said excuse me as I started to walk between you. When you took a step to your left and we bumped into each other, I stopped and told you I was sorry."
Now I'll admit, I probably still had a smile on my face because of the absurdity of the situation, but I said the words with the utmost sincerity. She told me, "well you're rude!". I told her, "I've already apologized once, but again, I' sorry".
She put her Red Sox cap back on and mumbled something unintelligible as she stormed off. My friend was clearly rattled by the situation and sat there with his mouth agape as he tried to figure out what to say to me. Instead, I beat him to the punch and asked him about the menu.
The ironic part of this story is her calling me rude. I may be a lot of different things, but rude is not one of them. I was raised by my mother and taught to always tell people please and thank you. If we're at a concert and someone steps on my foot, I say "sorry" to them. If you go out in public, there are dozens of times when you may bump into someone or be bumped into yourself. It happens so much most people don't even give it a second thought. You say excuse me and you're both on your way.
But if we're going to talk about rude, let's talk about this lady's reaction. She walked from her table, which was in a completely different area of the restaurant, to try to put me in my place. Her attitude lacked subtlety or sophistication and was extremely impolite. If you look up the word RUDE in the dictionary, I believe you'll find one or possibly all of those as the actual meaning of the word.
I guess if you walk this earth with a chip on your shoulder, you could find someone every day that just might accidentally knock it off.
Sorry. That's the way I see it......
Corvette Ronnie
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