Ever have those “Oops, my mistake” moments where you screw up in front of a crowd, there’s no way to deny what you just did or cover it up, and you have to just “man up” and admit and apologize?  Yeah, me neither.  Kidding.  Even I will admit to screwing up protocol if I’m guilty and it was unintentional.

The elevator I took down for lunch had four other people in it.  As they were all women, I held the door as it opened so they could exit first.  Except there was one hitch.  A pizza delivery woman stormed into the elevator before anyone could get out.  I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and say that she simply had a space-out moment because I can’t believe someone would purposely do that.  She even gave a nervous laugh that I interpreted to mean “I fucked up.  I suck.  You rule.  Please have mercy on me and my kin.”  Maybe the caffeine in my veins that had temporarily given me a sense of euphoria tampered my instincts to be sarcastic although thankfully two of the ladies “trapped” on the elevator gave their smarmy “Normally when an elevator opens, people that are on it get to go off first” conversation loud enough for all to hear.

There are moments like this when you simply have to fess up.  Whether you admit it or not, we’ve all had moments (even if they’re few and far between) where you realize “Oh crud, I didn’t see that guy in my blind spot” and you raise your right arm in a conciliatory gesture and hope the other driver doesn’t think you’re flipping them off or giving a dismissive hand wave.  I do refuse to use the horrific and grammatically incorrect “My bad” phrase.  If they pull up next to you, all you can do is mouth the word “sorry”, or you can go the passive route and pretend not to have peripheral vision all of a sudden.

Going back to the elevators opening, there is one public place though that seems to not follow the common courtesy of letting people out first.  Having witnessed it multiple times in Atlanta and Chicago, why is it there are always a few people who refuse to let people out of the mass transit trains first before they try to enter?  Especially when the trains are full, you blocking the flow of traffic is not going to get you a better place to stand or sit.  When you refuse to get out of the way of a parent trying to exit with their child in a stroller or a handicapped person in a wheelchair or an elderly person with a walking aid, you’re just a selfish prick.  Saying “Sorry” at those moments just doesn’t cut it, although 98% of these offenders aren’t courteous enough to do even that.