I'll hold a door open if I'm going out it and someone's coming in. I had a young chap flamboyantly open a door for me yesterday and it was plain weird, like something from a dream or my childhood. He smiled. He almost threw his cape across a puddle a la Francis Drake for the Queen, it was a total act of madness, of total defiance against rudeness. I'd never seen him before in my life, nor most probably will I ever again, but it was funny, he smiled big time, I broke into a laugh and he made my day. I giggled about it a few hours later, lovely man...
That though was a once in a year or decade event.
Today at the Post Office there was a queue out of the door onto the street. It looked like people were punching each other indoors and there were only two cashiers open. I had a parcel for a friend who happens to have a birthday just before Christmas and when the public sector are striking and working work-to-rule.
I didn't want to go into the Post Office until people had left, the man in the queue ahead of me was holding the door open and I stood on the street with my massive pink parcel. I even asked the girlie behind me whether she minded if I hung out on the street till there was half a space inside, wanting to allow people to leave and also not wanting to get any germs. I hate crowds. I'm allergic to them so I sneezed. People then amassed outside and I could now no longer hold my ground, they wanted to jump ahead through the door and make an even bigger angry crowd indoors.
A woman squeezed out of the Post Office who was maybe 4 people ahead of me in the line so I asked how long she'd waited and she said 20 minutes. I left too. My friend won't be getting her birthday present before her birthday is over.
What a mess. It was horrid, people were pushing from behind, shouting and abusive. I didn't sneeze or cough in their face, I just crossed the street, bought a supermarket pizza and a bottle of Stoli and carried back my big pink parcel. I almost cried when I got home.
xL