Tuesday, March 28, 2006

People have a tendency to piss me off

Okay, so my Wal-Mart story from the weekend. I'm sitting in my van with Anna and John M. in the parking lot of W-M, eating our gourmet lunch from Mickey D's. We do this often, eat in the car before going on the dreaded Wal-Mart adventure. I notice a lady getting into her car that's parked on the left of me. I don't pay much attention to her, because you know, I'm concentrating on my fries and all.

Next thing I know, I feel my van shake and hear a 'boom'. I'm thinking, 'that's great, she just hit me when she was backing out', but I look over at her and her car is still a little ways away. She kind of throws her hands up, as if to say, 'Sorry, I'm not sure what happened'. So we both get out and she walks around to my van. In between our cars, there's a buggy turned on its side. Apparently, she hit it while backing up and it fell between our cars. I check for damage to my van and all I see is a very small scratch on the plastic strip on my van door. So, thinking that I'm being nice about the whole thing, I tell her 'We don't have to worry about that, it's just a tiny scratch'. She comes back with, 'Well, YES WE DO have to worry about it, because look at my car!'. The buggy had dented in her door and scratched the side of her car. Well, fine, sorry about that, but it had nothing to do with me. She called 911. Yes, you heard that right, she actually called 911 because SHE hit a shopping cart in the Wal-Mart parking lot. All real emergencies will have to take a back seat to that for a minute!

So, she gets in touch with the local police and they're on their way. I figure, at this point, this really has nothing to do with me, so I get my kids out of the car. Anna tells me that she actually saw what happened (she was in the back of the van). She says there was a buggy behind the lady's car and she backed out fast, hit the buggy, and it flew between our cars. Anyway, I'm making a short story long here . . I wait a minute for the lady to get off of her cell phone. She had called her dad to tell them about what happened. I'm standing behind her with the kids and I realize that she doesn't know I'm standing there.

Here's what she tells her dad, 'I was just involved in an accident in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. A lady opened her door and knocked a buggy into my car and dented it. She went in the store with her kids already.' WTF? She's standing there telling a total lie without a thought. Anna looks at me with a gaping mouth 'Mom, did you hear what she said? She's blaming you. That's not what happened!'. I said, 'I know, I'm going to get this straight'. At this point, the lady realizes we're standing right behind her. She hangs up the phone, whips around and says, 'OH, I didn't see you there, I thought you had gone in the store.'. I told her that I had not hit her car; that I hadn't even opened my door until it was all over. She's really embrarrassed at this point and says, 'Oh okay, alright, I misunderstood.'. Yeah, sure lady, whatever.

The police come. I didn't hear what she told them, but I know that she lied about the incident because when Anna told them what she saw, the officer turned to the lady and says 'OH, so the cart was behind your car and you just backed into it?!", in a tone that said that wasn't at all what she had reported. She just turned the other way and didn't say a word.

Anna was asked to write her statement; she was thrilled to be a 'witness'! I turned to go in the store. I was never told 'Sorry', 'Thank you', anything at all.

I guess this is just a sign of the times. No one wants to be held accountable for their actions. They are careless and don't want to pay for their mistakes. They want someone else to pay. If it takes lying to get that accomplished, they do it without a thought. What an awful example for our kids; I hated for Anna to see that. But on the other hand, it was at least an example of what NOT to do. Geez . .

23 comments:

Spikey1 said...

Walmart and McDonalds.... wow.

Anna... do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth so help you god?

Fern Bourrie said...

The nerve of some people!!!

chesneygirl said...

Good grief!! I cannot believe the NERVE people have! Like you said, nobody takes responsibility anymore.
I wonder if this lady has children of her own? If she does...poor kids!

JeepGirl said...

What a *&%^$! I can't believe that there are people out there that would do crap like this. Maybe she lied to her dad cause she normally gets into this kind of crap. I think it was rather good that your child saw it and got to tell the truth to save the day. Good for her.

We're regulars at Mickey D's too. I think they roll their eyes when they see us coming AGAIN. hehe

Trina said...

That is HORRIBLE Renee! I am glad you kept your composure, I would have been fried!
I am glad that Anna could give her valuable 2 cents. Life is full of dishonesty, but when you see it so blatantly its hard to swallow.

Amy said...

That sucks! I would not have been as nice or had a much restraint. However, it was a valuable lesson for your daughter and good that she knows the woman was in the wrong.

Amanda said...

Craziness. I had a situation happen once where a crazy girl backed into me in a parking lot, damaged her car and not mine, and then tried to sue me for whiplash, which was self-diagnosed. People are totally unaccountable and nutso.

Anonymous said...

That is crazy. The nerve of that woman! It sounds like she is used to getting her way. I'm glad it wasn't anything more serious and way to go for keeping your cool and not throwing your Mickey Ds at her! I totally agree with you that people are always looking for a scapegoat.

MarkD60 said...

That would piss me off soooo bad. Hope you got her info. She might come back and try to screw you over!

Anonymous said...

OH MY GOSH! I would have been so hot!
How frustrating.

WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE THESE DAYS!?

grrrr

Beth said...

What a big DRAMA!!! I hate when stuff like that happens. You are just sitting in your car minding your own business and then someone tries to blame you. We have had that happen. You know when the car parked next to you just flings open their door and it hits your car and then they get all nervous wondering if anyone saw. Then they make eye contact with you and just say "sorry" which comes across as more of a "opps I got caught" Well at least your car didn't get to much damage!!

Greta Adams said...

okay girl you have me beat...that is a great wal-mart story....heheheh good for you to stick around and say something..i swear people have some nerve these days

Mise en Place said...

What a FREAK that Chick was, MAN! I'm thinkin' I would have come unglued right there in the parking lot, lol. But, with the kids and all, you did the better thing.

Thank goodness for Detective Anna....why to go Girly. Keep them honest.

Anonymous said...

I am not sure what I am most stunned with; calling 911! or lying. Beotch! And calling her dad? Was she a kid/teenager?

Renee said...

Erin, no, that's the thing, she looked like she was at least in her mid-30s, way old enough to handle the whole situation better!

laura capello said...

She's gonna get some BAD karma for that!

4evergapeach said...

That is absolutely unbelievable!!! So much so, it's almost amusing. 1st I can't believe she dialed 911 for such a thing. They should fine her for that in itself. Then trying to lie about it! Isn't there something about filing a false police report?

I wonder if she has children and what kind of an example she set for them growing up.

Ok, have I been here enough times to add you to my blogroll? ;)

Anonymous said...

Some people are just plain evil and STUPID.

Lala's world said...

holy cow....still amazes me that people can be that way! what a *#@@)!!!

Krisco said...

That is terrible! That is awesome Anna saw it and could tell them the truth. I love how the police believe her over the (crazy) woman.

That is just terrible. People are so obnoxious.

And if you hadn't been there waiting (good thing you did) and your girl seen it all, they might have believed her, sought you out, and given you a ticket, so that YOU could pay for the damage to her car. Su - weet!

Nicki said...

Oh, I would have been so hot!! That is just ridiculous!!

Julie Marsh said...

Renee, good for you and Anna for setting the story straight. And yes, it's hard for kids to learn how the world works, but you set a GREAT example for them!

The other morning on the way to work, I was listening to a radio show where they played a 911 call from a woman who was pissed that Burger King refused to make her burger the way she wanted! She seriously called 911 while she was sitting in the drive-thru, expecting the police to come out and force BK to make it "her way!"

Mary Tsao said...

This would piss me off, too. Ugh, sometimes I hate people!

But you did the right thing.