28 September 2019

Dear Real 'murikan:

Not everyone who gets in your way in the grocery store is intentionally inconveniencing you.

I might have stopped on the left because I've just avoided running over a kid (but he was brown, so you probably wouldn't care even if you'd seen it). Or because I'm trying not to run into an all-'murikan towering endcap overfilled to boxes-spilling-off level with crap I'm allergic to (I intend to have a discussion with the store manager about that at a later date). Or because the left side of the aisle, just around the corner, is where I'm returning the cart, and I'm adjusting my bags so I can pick them up quickly. Or because I'm tired after running other errands and I'm catching my breath before braving a parking lot full of suburban assault vehicles crammed carelessly into spaces marked "Compact Car Only." Or maybe more than one, even all, of these reasons.

So don't tell me "Get on the right, just like driving, it's really simple" with contempt in your voice and a sneer on your face under your MAGA hat as I wave you past. Don't take your anger that Orangeskull just might be called to account out on those you think are different from you or are inconveniencing you. Maybe I should just look over my shoulder to where you go in the store and demand of the store manager that he call for a white-trash pickup on that aisle — a wet one, next to the PBR.

If this had been the only obvious-right-wing acting-out shoved in my face while I was out shopping today, I might not have said anything. I'm ignoring the possibly impaired driver weaving in and out of traffic in the pickup truck plastered with NRA and Drumpf stickers, and … well, the list is too damned long. This was just the last — primarily because it was the last place I went before returning home. And I'm a male veteran who pretty much looks the part, so I don't get as much of this as some others do.