Mean, Hateful, and Nasty

It never ceases to amaze me how many rude, mean, and downright nasty people you come across in life. Are they aware of their nasty aura? Do they get some sort of personal satisfaction in being hateful?

The population continues to spiral and cities continue to grow, causing a more and more impersonal, unkind, and uncaring brusqueness in people toward other people who are unknown to each other.

I know a man who places a value on every person he meets, no matter how unkempt in appearance or character he or she may be. He takes a genuine interest in whoever he meets and to him, there is no such thing as a stranger. He loves everyone he meets. I admire this man and I wish I could be more like him.

I catch myself being self centered and uncaring at times. As a Boy Scout I was expected to be: Cheerful, courteous, kind, obedient, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. Those seven traits are still stuck in my head long after memorizing them when I became a Boy Scout, after all these years.

This morning my wife called me to say she was verbally abused by our neighbor…again. This neighbor is always ready to lob a nasty cannonball our way. We’ve never done anything to incur lashings from this woman’s venomous tongue. She’s said unbelievably vile things in the past…which I can’t repeat here.

My first thought was to pay her a visit when I got home and confront her with the things she said to my wife. After a while, I thought better of it. That never solves anything, and usually makes things worse. She’d probably enjoy it…hell, I know she would. I could call the police; after all, she did make a threat. What would the charge be? Could a seventy-odd year old woman be charged with terroristic threatening?

I think I’m going to put up a privacy fence, which we’ve thought of doing in the past. I think it’s time. I’ll put that sucker up against her ugly chain link fence and give her the ugly side to boot. Good fences make good neighbors after all….right?