I am sure many of you will remember the parking lot incident that went viral on YouTube, where the Hamilton woman has now been charged because of what she said to an Asian woman at the outlet mall in NOTL.
Well, we have all been there, patiently waiting for a parking spot with our signal on, and as the car pulls out of the spot, someone on the other side slips into that precious spot that we have been waiting for. During any busy shopping day, that can be really annoying.
Would I get angry and upset? Of course, and I would probably give that person the ‘parent look.’ You all know the look I mean, the look that Mom or Dad gave us that said, without words, “REALLY!! You actually just did that?”
Then I would have simply found another parking spot. Or, if the person had already gotten out of their car and was walking next to mine, I might roll down the window and politely say, “excuse me, didn’t you see that I had my signal on and was waiting for that spot?”
At this point the person would either apologize or give me half the peace sign and walk away. I would not follow and I would not interact. They are who they are, and I cannot and will not try to control the stream.
Now, if the shoe is on the other foot, and I was the one who didn’t see the other car and took the spot, and was approached by the other driver, I would simply apologize for making the mistake. Even if the driver who approached me was angry and yelling, I would simply apologize and walk away.
Getting back to the incident in the Outlet Collection, the woman’s resulting fame on the internet, probably raised blood pressure and now charges being laid, could have all been avoided. She was in total control, not the other woman. She created her own destiny, not the other woman. She is the only one she should be blaming for her situation.
There are people who have been put on this planet to mess with us. They are the friends and relatives who are argumentative and angry all the time, and in their world, they did nothing wrong. So, stop fighting with them. It is a no-win situation.
Some days they seem to travel in packs and we encounter a group of them all in one day. When this happened to me I checked with the Niagara Regional Police, and asked what the percentage of society is of those who will pick up a gun and shoot you, no matter what the rule was, and they said about two per cent.
Our problem is that these two-percenters run our planet. We have 100 km/h speed limits, because two per cent can’t drive. We go through the beepy things in the store, because two per cent steal. Kindergarten teachers can’t hug their kids because two per cent molest, and you won’t pick someone up on the road because two per cent mug. We need to stop making the two per cent our 98 per cent.
If someone steals your parking spot or a tourist is going too slow on Queen Street or the shop is too crowded on a bright sunny summer day, stay calm and try to remember how your day has gone so far, and how much control you actually have over how your day will proceed from here.
We can get angry, yell and scream and probably end up on YouTube, or we can consciously not make the two per cent our 98 per cent. Remember: we are the only ones in total control as to how we navigate our part of the stream, not the two per cent.
Ted Mouradian is the president of the 2% Factor Inc. and creator of the Law of Cooperative Action. He is an author and professional speaker and can be reached at
[email protected].
