Excuse me?

I went out for frozen yogurt with a friend the other night. Nice, right? It was. It was a fantastically peaceful step out for a quick treat with a fun friend. We all need that sometimes.

I had an interesting happening on the way in though that I have thought about a couple of times since. This is what happened: Frozen yogurt place (yum) had a parking spot right in front of it. Great. I was coming from one direction and another car the other direction. I couldn't tell if it was coming or going. I was slightly closer to the parking spot, so I started to pull into it. That's when the other driver laid on his/her horn. I don't mean a quick "excuse me but I was waiting for that spot" kind of a beep, it was a long honk that made it clear that this person wanted to kick my face and he/she probably said a few choice words in the confines of his/her vehicle. Very quickly my first thought was, "Wow. Really? Okay. If you really want this parking spot that bad and feel that strongly that it is rightfully yours, then I will give it to you. I am physically capable of walking the extra 15 feet from another parking spot, so I will. Sorry I have dishonored your family name by attempting to park here." So I backed out, pulled up to the lady in the car and made a gesture that meant, "Sorry. I didn't know whether you were coming or going or that it was that important to you with seventeen possible parking spots all within 30 seconds walking distance," which looked like a shrug and a get over it and let's all be friends look. She looked at me, but the twilight and her tinted window made it too dark to see her facial expression. She was on her phone. My next thought was, "It's a good think Jake isn't here."

There was one point in my life where I would have been scared of this person --stomach wrenched, I would hide. I've hopefully moved on. We were both headed into the same small place, so it wasn't like we could avoid each other. I prepared myself to say, "Sorry! I didn't know you had been waiting for that parking space!" since I was parked and next to her car before she was completely out of it. --and, I'll be truthful --I figured that if I was nice to her maybe she'd feel a little sheepish about acting so aggressively. I was going to say something to her, dangit. But she wouldn't look at me, and she was on the phone, obviously not in a nice mood, in very bright pajama pants. While taking in the scene and approaching the car ready to holler my message as soon as she got off the phone or even glanced at me (never happened), her son got out of the car. He looked like he was maybe 16 and didn't carry himself with the surety his mom did. He made me think of a stereotypical thick and awkward teen boy who spends most of his time in front of a screen.

Mom stomped into Yogurtville.

Son held the door open for me.

My friend yelled out my name and started walking up to me, so I quickly joined her --and he was still holding the door open for us. "Thank you so much!" I told him as we smiled at each other.

I didn't need to say anything to the mom. What would it have done? Her kid was trying to make up for it in the best way he could.

I quickly and as discreetly as I was able told my friend what had happened as we glanced over flavors, and I noticed the boy trail his mother until they got out the door with froyo cups in hand minutes later without ever speaking to each other.

I've thought about what my actions say to my children and what I could learn from this little situation. Even if it's a bad day and there is a "valid" reason to be grumpy --what does it say to my children if I let it affect how I interact with them and others? That it's okay sometimes? It's not. There are so many FUN ways to embarrass my children in the future. I don't want to add unfunny ones by creating unnecessary tension with other people.

I also thought about my reaction and how I should react in general to awkward or tense situations. Being kind without getting walked can be tricky, but it can work in the right frame of mind.

And most importantly, yogurt brings people together! Let it do its work! :) Get off the phone! Talk to your kids and ENJOY treats together, especially if they're still willing to hang out with you.