rude people *WARNING* contains some profanity

just got back from coaching tonight
location: grant mackewan's center for sport & wellness
-in the pool of course
a little incident occurred
that's been ticking me off slightly
so now i vent...
situation is as follows
the club books two lanes for our swimmers to practice in
at 8pm, when these lanes are "ours"
the pool staff puts in another lane for public swimmers.
there was this guy
loose navy blue shorts
and a sagging belly
swimming in the lane just past 8pm
so,
when he swam into the wall and stopped
with a smile on my face
i said, "excuse me sir,
we've booked these lanes
could you please continue your swim over in lane 3?"
to which
the fat slob
(and i'm being totally objective here
he was fat
and he was slobby
one can just tell y'know...)
replied very sarcastically,
"excuse me, but i'm done swimming"
after which
he blubbered out of the pool
(which is when i really noticed
how slobby he was)
and left
now i must admit
even tho
i have spoken to the universe
and declared my intention to exist peacefully
i sure wanted
to kick him in the face
honest reaction
a guess a couple things held me back
the biggest being
that i realized that his plain rudeness
really got to me
and that tells me something about myself
(what exactly, i'm not totally sure just yet
but i'm sure it's something profound and deep)
the fact that my lil guys (8-14 year olds)
were just climbing into that lane
also influenced my decision
to set an example
which was basically me turning to the kids
with a smile
and with positive energy
and start detailing the practice
and to be completely honest
other than that first flash urge to smash his nose into his brain
with the heel of my foot
(a very brief flash)
or the impulse to say something back at him
(like, "you sure are a pathetic slob"...
ok, i wouldn't have said that,
but i did think of saying,
"strange how you've reacted with such sarcasm
to my courtesy..." prepare to die bastard -
these italics being representative
of the menace that i would cleverly disguise behind my polite manners
and which would be ready to unleash death and destruction
at the first sign of physical hostility from slobbyguy)
i think i handled the situation appropriately
but it's like one of those situations
where i'm flabbergastered
and wondering...
did anyone just hear what this asshole just said?
anyways,
i must say
that his rudeness did bother me sporadically through practice
maybe a thought here
and a thought there
and that's kind of interesting
i once read
a bio of an instructor i really admire
(patti stiles)
her stated pet peeve was "rude people"
i truly understand why
but what i don't get
is why i should let such pettiness
bother me so much?!
guess that's something for me to ponder
if anyone has any suggestions out there
any theories
any answers
i'd be happy to listen
i wonder if
it's an old habit
left over from being
unfailingly polite
to people i'm about to defend myself against
and especially after they've ceased to be a threat
then again,
perhaps it's easy to be courteous
to those whom one has... dealt with... appropriately
 
oh well,
i guess i have alot more of that spiritual type work to do
like sammy L jackson once said
"...i'm trying real hard to be the shepherd..."
and in my case
i'm still trying really hard
to be in that place of peace
so i guess i should end this
with a big sincere THANKS!
to the slobbyguy
because without him to push these buttons
i'd have had no idea
that i still needed to work on stuff
and then i'd be walking around
thinking i was an enlightened saint or something
and how foolish would that be now?
*wink*