Someone Yelled “F*#k You, Hillary” At Me This Morning
Yes, it is true. I cant believe it either. An angry, chubby, middle aged white man with sandy colored thin hair, in a light brown Acura hatchback, took the time to stop in the rain, roll down his window, and scream, “FUCK YOU HILLARY!!!!!” to me this morning. Whoa, what a way to start a day — and not just any day. It is my youngest boys’ birthday. My twins are officially seven, and the day started so wonderfully, all smiles and hugs and balloons. On my way back from dropping Madelyn at RHS, I stopped at Westside Deli to grab the boys’ favorite lunch, then waited at the corner to cross over Ridgewood Avenue. When it turned red giving me the right of way, I started to cross and a landscaping truck with a trailer about to make the right off of Garber Square onto Ridgewood Avenue waved me on. I jogged across.
The car behind started laying on his horn. I assumed he was doing so because he could not see why the truck was waiting 3-4 seconds to make the turn. When I got far enough across for the driver to see me, I raised my hand and kind of gestured to the street I had just crossed, so he would stop and understand the cause of the very, very minor delay. I was in a great mood, didn’t have an angry look, didn’t gesture inappropriately; I simply wanted the driver to stop obnoxiously honking for no reason. Perhaps, he would rather the truck plow me down, so he could get to his golf game.
He then pulled up next to me, and naively I thought he was going to say, “Sorry about that. I didn’t see you.” Instead, he opened the mouth on his beet red face and yelled, “Fuck You, Hillary!” What could I do? I laughed. Granted I’m not looking my best today. I was up late last night and up early this morning, but I don’t think I look 30 years older than my age. I wasn’t wearing a Hillary for President t-shirt, and my yoga pants are the furthest thing from a polished pantsuit. He pulled away and as I was right near my parked car, I ended up only a few cars behind him. He made the right on North Monroe. Maybe he lives up that way. If anyone knows an overweight Ridgewood dad with a large head in his early 50s who has anger management issues and drives a brown Acura hatchback, please pass this message on to him. He is a heart attack waiting to happen, and he should see his doctor.
What is most baffling is he should be happy today. He should be thrilled. His guy obviously won. I have no idea why he assumed I voted for Hillary, no idea why he would try to turn the name of the first woman presidential candidate into an insult, why he decided to unleash on me simply because I was crossing the street with my children’s lunch. Here is what I do know. This is a man who will never be happy. He is disappointed in his life, blames others for his frustrations, is rude and impatient, hates women, and is unhealthy. In our short, unpleasant interaction, I could spot several cardiac risk factors.
Anger is bad for you. This has been a long, hate-driven, infuriating, heated election, and as the crazy man this morning showed, even if you won, you may feel you lost. I believe ultimately, most Americans voted for the candidate they despised less, which is sad. It is not a great time in our country, but for the sake of your health, it is time to let it go. It is over. As an average person, there is little you can do to change public policy, but there is much you can do to improve your own health and wellbeing. Take stock of your reaction and your mood, and take responsibility for it. No one is forcing you to feel this way. If you are feeling stressed, angry and anxious, change — for your heart and your mind, change. Breathe deeply, exercise, do things you enjoy, spend time with people you love, and focus on the parts of your world you can control. Be kind to yourself, and be kind to others. Happiness and serenity will follow. Oh, and try not to scream obscenities at nice people on our nice, peaceful streets.
