Triggered by my asshole neighbor

 

I like to think of myself as level-headed, emotionally stable and non-reactive...said somebody other than myself about somebody other than myself. 

Yesterday, while out on my walk, I saw a car creeping slowly through the neighborhood. Either someone lost or up to no good, in my estimation. No one drives 2 miles per hour up the length of the whole street. I readied my camera to photograph his license number for future reference, in case any crimes wound up being reported. As I walked up the block, I could see his car stopped in front of my neighbor's house and heard loud voices.

I kept approaching and saw that my neighbor, Rocky, was engaged in an argument with the driver of a BMW convertible. They were arguing about what the guy was doing driving so slow, but apparently they also had some history. This guy was the neighbor who had called animal control on my friend, resulting in him having to get rid of his dog. 

The dog was a Great Pyrenees named Sheila, who was accused of excessive barking. To her credit, she was protecting livestock and keeping the area free from coyotes and foxes. After the complaint Rocky had to keep the dog indoors at night, resulting in the loss of about 24 chickens. He eventually gave the dog to someone else, because the dog was miserable, being unable to do her job of guarding the property.

I walked up to a full on shouting match between these two men. I admit, I already had a bias against the guy who'd complained to animal control. Shit, you live in the country. Dogs bark. Fucking get used to the idea. But this guy was one of those "I'm right and I'm never going to be convinced of any other possible viewpoints than my own" type of people. His voice oozed with contempt, condescension and smarminess. 

I wanted to be a neutral, voice of reason type of bystander, but found that I was seething at this guy's arrogance. Now I was in danger of getting riled up and calling the guy a jerkwad fucktard who ought to go die or at least move. But I kinda restrained myself. The few comments I attempted to make were shouted down by this bellowing idiot anyway.

So, I took out my camera and videotaped his obnoxious rant, along with my neighbor's attempt at reasoned discussion. Turning on a recording device can sometimes have the effect of making everyone more thoughtful and conscious of what they are saying. No one wants to be perceived as being an out of control asshole. But it didn't slow this guy's roll at all, no siree.

I began to think, man, we are in trouble. There are people in this world who are just unreachable with logic or common sense. It is evident in our political discourse. Even the side I normally would support is guilty of not seeing the other side as human, much less admitting to any errors in their own viewpoint.  If I can get triggered so easily, I imagine it's not going to be easy to heal the differences in this country.

We're gonna need that extra terrestrial threat to bring us all together after all, Ronnie.