I’m loading a few groceries into the back of my car at the Harris Teeter and a mammoth red pickup truck backs out of the space next to me and comes to a halt. Effectively blocking me behind my car.
“Stop Bigotry?” says the driver of this truck, “Really, Lady?” Immediately, I know what he means. In my side vent window, I have a small bumper sticker that says “Stop Bigotry” and includes a yellow silhouette, on a blue background, of a man with a with massive comb-over flip. See below:
As I take in this jowly white man in a ball cap, hanging out of his truck cab, face contorted with righteous indignation -- I considered turning my back on him, squeezing around his truck and getting into my car. Of course, I couldn’t close the hatch on my car and he left me no room to squeeze by, so what could I do? I stared at him and thought, “Hmm, what would you suggest? Start Bigotry?” Instead, I said loudly in my most stern voice, “Shut up and get out of my way.”
I doubt he heard what I said as he continued to yell at me from his window. Again, I told him to shut up and get the HELL out of my way. He kept asking me if I was serious and shaking his head and jabbing his finger at me. That’s when I decided there was no point in attempting to have a conversation. I’m afraid I jumped into the fray…
“Would you get the hell out of here and move your vehicle,” I said. He continued to rant at me and did not move until I raised my voice even louder and started calling to people I saw walking toward the store. “Call the police,” I shouted, “This man is harassing me.”
I think he finally heard that, because he quickly moved his truck a few inches, enough to let me close my hatch and move toward my door. I continued to say in a VERY loud voice, “This man is harassing me.” People began to look over their shoulders and move in our direction. I stood by my car and never stopped loudly asserting that he was harassing me.
Finally, with a jerk of his steering wheel and a squeal of rubber, he pulled away, stopping at the parking lot exit, a few car lengths away to give me the finger. He stuck his big head out of his window and yelled, “Fuck You.” To which I replied “Coward! Just like a coward, drive a safe distance away and then start yelling insults.”
Admittedly shaken, I got in my car and sat there for a moment before I noticed that my beloved checker from Harris Teeter, Jasmine, was frantically pounding on my window asking, “Are you alright, are you alright?” I was so grateful to see her as I was shaking – not with fright, mind you -- but with fury and the pure surge of negative adrenalin generated by having engaged in such a nasty encounter.
Jasmine took my hand, hugged me and said someone had come into the store saying that a man and woman were in “a fight” in the parking lot. Well, I would hardly call it a fight – no blows were exchanged -- but it was indeed a confrontation.
I eventually calmed down, and for that, I am forever in debt to Jasmine. As I drove home (admittedly looking around for a bright red pickup truck), I thought about what happened. My take is this: a grown man, with the tendencies of a 9th-grade bully, did not like my bumper sticker. It was my car, my bumper sticker and my right to display it, yet he felt completely justified in confronting me. Not to speak of blocking me in behind my car and verbally abusing me.
And, why did he feel justified in confronting me? I’ll tell you why. He saw a nicely dressed, middle-aged woman, driving a shiny SUV, in a parking lot in North Bethesda, Montgomery County, MD – “Land of the Liberals”. He figured, “Well, here’s an easy mark!” I’ll just pull my big old truck up behind her and scare the ever-loving shit outta her smug, upper-class, “libtard”, race traitor, fat ass.
Well…he FUCKED with the wrong woman. I didn’t cower behind my car, I didn’t ignore his sarcasm and I didn’t slink away. I took a stand, I spoke back to him, I challenged him and called him exactly what he was – a Coward.
So I ask again, what is the opposite of “Stop Bigotry”? If someone takes exception to that phrase I can only assume they were offended by that notion and prefer to Start or Continue Bigotry.
I’m just saying…
