Bad behavior, we see it all the time and usually we brush it off as a mere nuisance. I want to share with you a couple of off – duty incidents that I have experienced.

I was calmly waiting to fill up at our local Costco gas station, thinking about the chores and the other endless tasks awaiting me at home.  As I started to move forward to the open gas lane, this pickup suddenly barges in; I‘m thinking what an idiot. I raise my arms to signal my annoyance when suddenly the driver starts yelling at me “hey, you snooze you lose you xxxx idiot”; other drivers are looking at him and then looking at me, waiting for the big physical altercation. One of the drivers recognizes me as a police officer, and is mildly amused, smiles and is quietly awaiting the outcome of this open street theatre; I smile back.

This young dupe is grinning from ear to ear and is validating all the stereotypical images of a tattooed, Ultimate Fighter shirt wearing, extended shocks on a 4X4 truck driving knucklehead. In my mind, I was visualizing all the different ways of humiliating this person; but with age comes a little wisdom and I decided patience was the best avenue to take.After filling up and giving me the one fingered salute and a few choice expletives, he jumps into his truck and squeals out of the gas pump lane. His parents must be proud.

I am leaving a shopping center, and I see an elderly female driver having issues parking her car into a cramped parking stall. She is visibly distressed, so I assist her by guiding her into the stall. I noticed she had a handicap sticker, which would have allowed her to park in a much larger handicap stall a few feet away. She advised me that the handicap stall was occupied. I walked over to the stall with her and I noticed a nice shiny corvette without a handicap sticker parked in the stall. This type of inconsiderate acts seems the common place with drivers feeling they are entitled to do whatever they want; and how dare anyone tell them otherwise. I patently wait for the driver; the elderly driver does not want a confrontation and politely excuses herself to go shopping. Eventually, the driver comes out and sees me standing by his car. The first thing out of his mouth is, “you got a problem!” I quickly realize that a meaningful conversation between two rational minded people is not going to happen. I politely advise him that an elderly driver was put out and had a hard time parking due to his lack of consideration. He quickly gets into my personal space and tells me this is “none of my xxxx business, and to get out of his way”, or he was gonna hurt me.” I want to assure you, that on my days off, the last thing I want to do is be a cop. I whispered to my impertinent friend, that I was an off duty cop and that he had better step back, because I was feeling “threatened and unsafe,” the look on his face was priceless. He profusely apologized, tells me it won’t happen again, and advised me he was having a bad day, which started with him being dumped by his girlfriend. He sheepishly leaves the area. I think the girlfriend made an excellent decision.

It seems there has been a significant societal shift where self entitlement is the norm, and people are more ignorant and disrespectful to each other. In cases like the two described, I like you wish for a magical TV remote with a delete button. In the meantime, take a deep breath and count to 10…….until next time.