Freeper Encounter Just Now at My Local Walgreen's!

[romantico]

OK,I am in shock. I have in the past encountered freepers at work and even in my own family at holiday get togethers. However, NOTHING compares to what just happened to me.This just happened about a half an hour ago. I am not exaggerating or embellishing this at all.This is EXACTLY what happened.

I had some photos on my camera and downloaded them and sent them to Walgreen's last night. I was driving into the parking lot to go pick them up.I noticed another car pull in right next to me. As I got out the driver from the other car got out as well.I noticed a bumper sticker on her car of Obama as the joker with the words SOCIALIST on it. I have seen it on the internet and the news and at videos of town hall meetings and tea party protests but never actually saw a bumper sticker with it. I glanced down,never looking at the driver, and I just smirked. THAT WAS ALL I DID. Well, the driver,this soccer Mom, saw my smirk and just went off on me.She started in on this rant about Obama and socialism and how liberals are destroying the country and so on. Having said that,this woman who I describe as a Soccer Mom in her mid to late 30's called me something I had never been called before,especially by a woman. She called me the C word (???) She said the C word 4 times. I noticed a baby car seat in the back but luckily no kids were with her. Only one person exited the store and it was an elderly woman who looked surprised to hear this angry rant. She looked at both of us and went to her car and got the hell out of there. The entire rant lasted about 20 seconds and I at first ignored her and started walking to the entrance.I then said to her to SHUT UP!(only thing that came to mind) I am terrible in situations like this. I always just freeze and never say what I should. It's always afterwords when I think of things to say but I was in total shock. For someone to freak out over me smirking at a bumper sticker.Can you imagine what she would have done if I said something? What would she have done if I had a Pro Obama sticker on my car? All I could think of was to tell her to shut up in which she responded, "WE WON'T BE SILENCED!!!"

She then got back in her car and left and when she did she peeled out of the parking lot at full speed. No, I did not get her license plate number. I guess she was so angry she decided not to go in the drug store. Maybe she was angry with me she did not want to be in the same store as me,who knows. I just felt it was odd that we both pulled into the parking lot at the same time and she did not even go in for whatever it was she came here for.Guess I should have waited to see if she came back.I know a lot will get on me for not speaking out and be pissed I let this freeper rant without me doing anything about it. I can not say enough how shocked I was. I had only been awake for about 20 minutes or so, no coffee and like I said,who freaks out over just a smirk? I mentioned it to the clerk inside and he just shrugged his shoulders. I came home and needed to vent. I PRAY I see this woman again. I am going to be on full alert watching for this car and woman. ANYONE,liberal or conservative who goes of the deep end over something like this needs help. I assumed she had the sticker on her car as a way to express herself and her views. I smirked and found it amusing and also disgusting and she freaked out. She can express herself but I can not? Like I said, I wish I had thought of that to say to her.Anyway, sorry for the rant. It was too much excitement for me this early in the AM without my coffee over something so minor.I am more terrified of these nuts than I am any foreign terrorist.

[Historic NY]

1. maybe she was an intoxicated driver.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

51. Or heading into the drug store for her meds.

[Tikki]

54. Yeah, sounds like a meth soccer mom...

I feel for the kid(s) in her life.


Tikki

[Christa]

2. It's frightening

I am more afraid of them than of foreign terrorists as well.

And I think you did the right thing there; it is of no use arguing with these lunatics.


♫

[wicket]

3. You can't reason with freaks like this

[romantico]

8. She

she was rabid. I know that sounds a bit dramatic but she was beat red and visibly shaken. Sounded like she had a lot to get off her chest. Like I said,only lasted 20 seconds or so but she spoke so fast and got so much out there it seemed like it was longer. I am angry with myself for taking it as long as I did without either walking away or telling her off myself. Why did I just stand there and let her rant? I think I was in shock. This woman looked like she was about to cry.Maybe she got some bad news before hand, maybe she was having a bad morning or maybe she has so much anger and hate towards Obama/Democrats that she needed to let me know about it. Just told a friend and he said I should have told her that i smirked because I just bought the same sticker for my car and see what she would have done.LOL! I will be thinking of this poor woman all day.

[wicket]

11. I'm sorry this happened to you

I've been in similar situations before and always think of great comebacks AFTER the fact. Don't let this crazy freeper ruin your day!

[monmouth]

13. One of the things that may have brought this on is that POTUS was so

impressive at the UN yesterday. He's getting great reviews. This has to be driving them up a wall, i.e. the reason they are pushing the "he's over exposed" meme. I would have done the same as you. Who ever is prepared, early in the morning for a nut job like that?
Don't let it ruin your day. Make yourself a super-delicious breakfast and play some music....lol.

[Cosmocat]

29. I have good friends who get unhinged like this ...

I have a friend who helped me with a non-profit project in our small town - he is an ex-marine who is a pilot, and has several rental properties. He works with low income people and is caring of them, and used to have his office in the middle of our community park, and frankly distracted himself trying to figure out how to help the troubled adolescents who hung out there.

I like him personally, and he is a genuinely good guy.

I used to stop by his office, and we would talk for a couple of hours every now and then. He knew my politics, and it would ultimately turn that direction. He would increasingly get worked up, got all red and at times came totally unhinged - all of the socialism crape and everything else. Again, I like and respect him a lot, and always was very civil and kind during these discussions. When we would end the conservations, he would always extend a strong and real handshake and say thanks.

I have MANY, VERY good friends who are Rs, and to some degree share these sentiments. As my friends, they are always very respectful and supportive of my efforts ... I let A LOT go with them on it. But, again, friends are friends.

I share the same GENERAL disdain for lunatic right wing beliefs, but again, in real life, with real people, it just is something I deal with, everyone has their things ...

It is tough, and to me a bizarre disconnect, that really, TRUELY decent and community oriented people have these beliefs.

A stranger, I probably would be less caring or empathetic toward, but I can't disown people because of their politics when they are good people ...

[mwb970]

139. Why then do "good people" have such awful, reprehensible political views?

How "good" can they be and still say and do the things they do?

I will never, ever understand right-wing wackaloons. They all just seem crazy to me.

[ginnyinWI]

125. you were right to say nothing.

You never know, with a stranger, what they are going to do next. It's never a good idea to make a stranger more angry. Anyway, then you would be justifying her ranting at you--you'd then deserve it. The best thing is to play dumb and say nothing, or else say, "excuse me?" or something as innocuous.

I think these people get so pumped up by pundits like Hannity and Beck that they feel justified in doing the same thing to the nearest target. People forget how to behave in public. Or they stop seeing family members as who they are and suddenly see only a target for their invective. They are being programmed and the merest trigger sets them off.

[diane in sf]

133. Next time take a deep breath, let her run down and ask if anything else is bothering her

Works like a charm with insanely angry people.

[4_TN_TITANS]

141. Good discussion on NPR's Diane Rehm show yesterday

that summed it up. For eight years these people convinced themselves that they had voted God back into the WH and a true conservative was in charge. Now with hindsight, they see * was neither a conservative nor practiced their religious values, and grew the Fed and the deficit by leaps and bounds.
We are the innocent victims of people just now realizing that they were 'had' in a big way. That's where the anger comes from.

[tosh]

143. That is a good angle that I haven't considered.

If this is true for many of them, I suppose they are still in the process of connecting the dots. Maybe the anger will subside over time.

I worry the most, though, about those that don't have the capacity to think and reason.

[Echo In Light]

81. Exactly. Expect the worst from RWers. I keep a peace keeper in the trunk these days.

[LiberalAndProud]

4. Shocking behavior.

I hope this boorish behavior doesn't ruin your day. There is no excuse for this behavior, but those who are listening to Beck, Limbaugh, Savage, et. al., are being driven mad with the hate.

What a lousy way to start the day!

[Robb]

5. "WE WON'T BE SILENCED!!!"

Yes, yes they will.

[Triana]

10. The bellowing minority....

...angry little people.

[Xicano]

99. Turn off her mic, turn out the lights and send her to the basement mop room.

n/t

[eShirl]

132. funny she then shut up and left

I guess the teevee never talked back to her like that, so she didn't know what else to do

[LiberalEsto]

6. Let's hope healthcare reform

gets her coverage for mental health treatment.

[Hepburn]

42. +1....n/t

[Pharaoh]

7. some of them have become unhinged

after years of listening to rush and fox they have become full of hate. Yes, best not to say anything to these people.They are beyond reason.

[RagAss]

147. She'll stroke out soon....forget her.

[demigoddess]

152. well think about it, she's early thirties, she's probably heard all this

propaganda for all of Clinton's presidency and eight years of bush, 16 years total that is probably about half her life and she wasn't paying attention before then and she did not study history or politics in school. She may not have been even taught about the Constitution in school, like I was. I am in my sixties and my children did not get these courses as we did in school.

[NoPasaran]

9. This is an example

Of why they make those little cans of MACE you can attach to your car keys.

[Gman2]

12. Unless you are badass, turn away, lest you wind up with fed carved into your chest.

[patrice]

14. Don't feel bad. Saying anything would have accomplished nothing except to confirm her more

deeply in whatever her malfunction is.

Sounds like she was off her meds.

[Berry Cool]

15. The C word???

She called you a...a...a COMMUNIST?????

But seriously folks...this woman sounds like she has serious problems. She's been dittoed to death, Becked to bits and royally Foxed up. Good thing she just peeled out of there--she was probably sparing you her wrath and she knew it. Sounds like she has poor impulse control but managed to get herself to leave before she tore you apart.

Be careful out there, kids.

[tosh]

22. "Be careful out there, kids."

Well worth repeating!

[romantico]

23. No

That's not the C word she called me. She called me a word I NEVER use. A word that makes me uncomfortable when I hear ANYONE use it. A word that starts with C and ends with T. So, having a female call me this word shocked me even more (and I at this point was pretty shocked)

Thanks for the support everyone.I will be watching for this car because we live in a rather small town so I am sure I will see it again. Doubt I will say anything unless next time I am prepared and get out of my car and start laughing hysterically at the sticker and then laugh and point at the woman. Of course, I will be asking for trouble and this woman may be so crazy she might even carry a gun in her car.

I guess the other question I have is why would she assume just because I smirked that I was disagreeing with her. I mean, couldn't I have agreed and smirked because I liked the fact she was displaying this image of Obama? For her to assume I was a liberal just because I smirked is confusing.

[pipi_k]

49. Her own issues

Who knows what issues she has from her past...maybe her parents smirked at her when she did something wrong or whatever.

I remember my mom having a smirk that I hated. The other thing was the one raised eyebrow.

Both of them meant (to me) that she thought we kids were lying through our teeth. She never believed us even when we told the truth.


so now, as an adult, I have issues with smirks and raised eyebrows, although I've never gone off on a stranger for doing them.


The thing that concerns me with people having anger issues and all because of maybe the economy or whatever is, what if you had a child/children with you...what if she had kids with her...

Having anger is understandable...venting it on a stranger in such a shameful, totally disgusting manner is not.

[CatWoman]

53. what's say I rustle up Skittles

and we kick her ass for you

[GodlyDemocrat]

68. If someone is going to use that word to a stranger repeatedly, I would call the police

It appears her rant and tirade were unprovoked.

It doesn't matter if you are a guy or not. Cops deal with batshit crazy women all the time.

[BlooInBloo]

78. "A word that starts with C and ends with T." - Right - communist!

I tease.

[Arugula Latte]

149. No, silly ... "Carrot."

[keroro gunsou]

82. she said

see you next time? whatta bitch. if kids today can't play nice, gotta give 'em a time out...

[LiberalAndProud]

48. dittoed to death, Becked to bits and royally Foxed up

I am so going to remember this and use it often. Without attribute. Thanks in advance, BC.

[JVS]

150. rhymes with blunt

[drm604]

16. Don't go looking for this woman.

Just let it go. She sounds unstable and may possibly be dangerous.

[Xenotime]

19. Exactly. If she is a freep, she might have a gun.

[Veruca Salt]

57. +1

And if you do stumble across her, just turn and walk away.

[wolfgangmo]

72. I wouldn't go that far.

Trust your intuition but be ready to bug out and dial 911 if the batshit crazy reappears.

But a dialog might be a good thing.

[drm604]

74. Not worth the trouble or the risk.

The woman isn't interested in dialog. She's interested in one sided diatribes in response to facial expressions she doesn't like.

[Renew Deal]

17. You were dealing with a crazy person.

There's not much to say to this type of lunatic without inciting them further. The way this sounds to me is that it was barely political and mostly mental.

[Mira]

18. "To argue with a person who has

renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead".
Thomas Paine

In this man's last name is what she is feeling. Lots of pain. Stupidity hurts a lot.
Imagine what is churning in her, she is to be pitied.

But I would have, I admit with shame, gotten into a screaming match with her.
That's too bad, but true.

Recommended

[CanonRay]

28. Love the Paine quote!

[TxRider]

43. "never argue with a fool"

Never argue with a fool, they will only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience"

Goes well along with "Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them quite so much"

[Martin Eden]

112. Don't worry dear, I am a Christian and I forgive you.

It would be interesting to see how the crazed freeper would have reacted to a gently expressed response like that.

[TuxedoKat]

138. Yes, I was going to write something similar....

you could add to the above, and I'll pray for you too.

Seriously though, after the incident where the guy at the Cracker Barrel beat up a women in front
of her child I would be very wary of inciting any of them further. Savage, Beck and others seem
to be courting violence against liberals with their rhetoric. Some of these loonies may carry guns
around in their cars and some are so unbalanced they may use them with very little provocation.

[treestar]

96. It's like arguing with a dining room table - Barney Frank

[Myrina]

20. Their common unifying trait is that they're angry ... they just don't realize at what.

... they really don't realize they've been used by the GOP and the Christo-Fascist movement for the last 30 years.

They don't realize that the very companies who are organizing the Tea Bagger Rallies and inciting all this low-information-voter paranoia are the ones who will pull the plug on grandma, ship Cousin Jane's job to India, and who - by dodging business taxes - are shorchanging local infrastructure so Jimmy and Julie can't read an' cipher or have safe roads to drive on, or clean/safe parks to play at because there's no money for the parks department anymore - or for public safety officers to keep the pervs in jail and out of the parks.

They know they're being hosed - they're just aiming their anger at the wrong boogeyman.

[SpiralHawk]

21. That foul-mouth woman gots a wicked bad case of Republicon Family Values

which are fear, hate, and closet-bound kinkiness.

[MineralMan]

24. My response to rants from strangers in public places...

I let them run their mouths until they're done, then ask, "Feel better now?" Then I get in my car and leave. You can't argue with them.

Another response is to just walk away while they rant. Often, you'll get a, "Don't you dare walk away from me!" If that happens, just keep walking, but listen carefully to make sure they aren't coming up behind you.

Engaging these morons is never a good idea. You just waste your time and infuriate them further.

That said, if you enjoy infuriating them further, go for it.

[barbtries]

25. i would have reacted just as you did

i know this because i was verbally put upon by an anti-abortionist while registering voters during the campaign. he essentially said obama wanted to murder babies, but what i remember the most is how his face was red with rage. i could not think of a word to say to him. until much later of course.

there is just no reason for such ugliness. i don't get what drives these hateful people. try not to let it get you down, even though i know it will be very hard to forget.

[malaise]

26. You need lessons on how to respond to

these 'morans'. By the time I was finished with her, she would have left that parking lot ten times faster.

[JuniperLea]

76. Seriously!

When encountered with the bat shit crazy people of the world, I call upon my earliest days in the theatre where we used mirroring exercises... you ain't seen bat shit crazy 'till you've seen my impersonation! LOL! Plus, I've had vocal training and can project my voice with astounding volume and clarity... I've scared myself a couple of times If you happen to see HowardX around here, ask him how loud I am... I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head the first time he heard me project

[TxRider]

93. I would have busted out laughing at her myself...

[derby378]

27. Remember the old scout motto: "Be Prepared"

You can't reason with her or argue with her, so just dismiss her with a regal flick of your hand and walk away. No sense in standing there and letting her cuss you out like that.

Damn, that sucks, though. Hope you're feeling better.

[proud2BlibKansan]

50. I used that regal hand flick recently and it works!

Some ignorant old woman was at a breakfast event hosted by our Congress rep. She was handing out anti choice fliers and lying about Obama wanting to abort black babies. I did the hand flip and she literally slunk away. I enjoyed it a great deal

[derby378]

58. Awesome!

I think many of these doofuses just don't expect us to stand our ground, so when we do, they don't know how to handle that.

[pipi_k]

144. You mean like this?

"We are not amused!"

[EnviroBat]

30. I just usually respond to people like this,

by looking at them and making the sound of a crow. CAW! CAW! CAW! CAW! CAW!

As they don't seem to understand English, or much less hear it. Then I pepper spray them and try to get them to chase me across a busy street.

My friends call me the "Spicy Crow".

[ellie]

120. hahahahahahahahahaha

hahahahahahahahahahaha

[Odin2005]

31. These people scare the shit out of me.

[EnviroBat]

33. That's what they want.

They want you to fear them. That's what they've been indoctrinated with, and they believe that they must intimidate to get their message across.

Just stand up to them. They aren't the bad-asses they puff themselves up to be.

[no_hypocrisy]

32. You have encountered an unfortunate character who is the American Taliban.

They organize their lives and their thoughts on paranoia and neurosis. They can't or won't use logic or listen other views that digress from theirs. They are all emotion and no brain. And yes, they will "explode" in order to attempt to intimidate you because that's all they have: threat of violence and violence. They aren't in power right now so they can't threaten to use "The System" to neutralize you, so violence is their only card left to play.

Next time, call the police and file a disorderly persons violation against any person who does this to you.

[Stevenmarc]

34. I would have gone with a exaggerated yawn followed by a look of disdain and major eye roll...

because all words are lost on that degree of crazy, best to visually marginalize them.

[NYC_SKP]

35. If I ever see that Bumper Sticker on a car, I will probably respond "poorly"...

Stealthily, but in some fashion not deemed appropriate or fully within the law.

I so hate that image.

[LeftinOH]

36. She left the comfort and security of her home and encountered the boogeyman -YOU!

Imagine **only** reading RW books, watching RW television, listening to RW talk radio- There is a new, isolated class of Americans out there who are regularly warned about the imminent Islamic/Marxist/ Atheist/Socialist/Commie/Nazi takeover. The number of people with untreated mental illness is torridly high; they are vulnerable to this bullshit, and we are vulnerable to them.

[romantico]

37. I Smiled at a Bumper Sticker and She Exploded

I Smiled at a Bumper Sticker and She Exploded. I know I should not even attempt to figure a nut like this out,but how can such an innocent gesture like a smile piss someone off/ How did she know I was not one who agreed with her politics? I had no left leaning sticker or shirt or button or anything showing my political leaning.She based SO MUCH rage on a guess.That just blows my mind. To say she was crazy is an understatement. Bulging eyes tearing up,red face,speaking so loudly and fast spit was flying everywhere and then dropping the C word. Yeah, she threw in the F word also but it was the C word that shocked me. Calling me a dumb liberal C *** just really floored me.

[warrior1]

41. There are a lot of things you could say to her

but I'm afraid that because of the way they are wired they can't be reasoned with. They don't have the ability to understand facts and how things work. They've had rapid right wing talk shows freaks tell them how to feel and what to think. So, if you were to try and respond to this rapid hate, it would be wasting your time. I would avoid them like that had H1N1 virus. Remember that they are a declining minority and that may be where this fear is coming from. Too bad, too sad for them.

I know that my blood pressure would have sky rocketed if I had that happened to me. I would have wanted to tell that bitch off. What would have been funny to say to her "I'll pray that god heals you from your hatred of mankind and to unhardened your heart. Peace." But, someone being that angry is going to kill someone and I would not want that person to be me.

I think your a swell person. Don't let this person fear become yours. You did nothing wrong.

[southernyankeebelle]

38. You probably did the best thing. You being a guy would of most

likely gotten the short end of the stick.

[The Wizard]

39. One of my tactics

for dealing with the lunatic fringe is to have them repeat what they just said, only louder as I couldn't hear them the first time. My hope is to give them a stroke.
As I've said many times here, these people are driving at high speeds on our roads, and that is sufficient reason to be in fear.

[yurbud]

97. I use that in my personal life: let something do their whole rant, then when they stop, say "What?"

repeat as needed.

[mimitabby]

40. no you did the right thing

she might have physically assaulted you and while that might be a good story to tell... I don't think you want to go there!

as the wicked witch of the west said "what a world, what a world, what a world"

[lunatica]

44. Nothing you could say would have made a difference

But if you think about it she's obviously so defensive about her precious sticker that your tiny reaction set her off into some insane rant. She lives in a world that elected Obama so she's in the minority and that obviously unsettles her mentally. Just telling her to shut up seems to have been enough for her to hightail it out of there. Why would you think she 'won'? She didn't. For all you know you may have been the tenth person in a row who reacted with a smirk to her sticker.

Consider it a victory. The Bush era is over. She's the loser now.

[Veruca Salt]

60. That's actually a really good

(and likely accurate) way of seeing it.

[ronnykmarshall]

45. How she not shop at WALMART!!

[pipi_k]

46. Well l'm not going to bash you for not saying anything to her...

Number one, I'm like you. I never think of a good comeback until much later. I envy people who do think of stuff on the spur of the moment. My problem is that I just never expect people to go off on me like that, even though it's happened more times than I care to remember. I'm just never prepared.

Number two, it's better sometimes NOT to answer these crazies. In fact, it's probably better to just turn and walk away. Of course, you're taking the chance that the crazy will wait till you've turned your back and then vent their anger on your car, but this is where a cell phone with a camera comes in handy for getting proof in case you ever want to take the asshole to court.

anyway, it's ironic, isn't it...

the party of "Family Values" is represented by people who explode at the slightest provocation, and spew the most disgusting epithets you could imagine. I'm sorry you got called the "c" word. It hurts, but it's more a reflection on the type of person she is than on you.

[struggle4progress]

47. Only argue if: (1) you can change the mind of the person you're arguing with, or (2) you can

change the mind of an on-looker, or (3) you can learn something from the argument

If somebody starts going off on me in public like that, I'll pleasantly tell 'em Have a nice day! as I amble off in the direction of somewhere where they ain't

[guitar man]

52. Damn, what is it with Walgreens?

Every time I go there it seems I run into a case of teh stupid so bad it burns

[MineralMan]

61. Everyone goes to Walgreens. So, you run into the entire

spectrum of people, including abject morons.

[guitar man]

62. makes sense

lately the pharmacy counter seems to be the place where the teabaggers like to loudly spout off about how bad the "socialist government health care" is going to be. I generally just roll my eyes and let them get it out of their evil systems.

[MineralMan]

64. Yah, and half of them are on Medicare, at least at the

Walgreens I go to. I do remind such people that they're already using socialized, government-run healthcare. That usually shuts them up briefly.

[guitar man]

70. yep

A pharmacist beat me to the punch on that that the other day, took the words out of my mouth. I could tell he was disgusted, he's been hearing it non stop every day. I did take one lady to the woodshed who wouldn't shut up, got her to admit that 1/4 of her husband's paycheck was going to premiums and the company was still trying to deny claims every chance they got. I just asked her "don't you think the system you described needs some kind of reform if it's causing your family and a ahole lot of other working families that much grief?" She just stared at her shoes in silence after I asked her that.

[pipi_k]

84. And sometimes the stupid comes from the employees...

Last week Mr Pip had some very painful oral surgery done. Then he had to go pick up a couple of scripts for aftercare...one of those things was painkiller.

Instead of going to CVS (where they make you wait an hour and practically want to know your life history before handing over the meds) he went to Walgreens. Turned over the scripts and asked how long it would be...OK at this time there are THREE people waiting. He's thinking, 15, 20 minutes tops.

No...an hour!

He explains he's just had oral surgery, is in pain, and it's a 40 mile round trip to go home and wait then go back again.

The person at the counter says she's very sorry, but they're very busy and are in the middle of a "Flu Clinic"

remember, there are 3 people there...no line....nobody giving or getting flu shots...nothing.

So Mr Pip tells her what he thinks and takes back his scripts, and goes into the Super Stop and Shop up the street, where they also have a pharmacy.

When he gets home he's fit to be tied...writes a letter to Walgreens...tells them what happened...includes phone number. Two days later he gets a call from Walgreens. They are very apologetic and admit that this NEVER should have happened. The person who lied probably didn't get fired, but I'll bet she did get her ass flamed by the store manager.

[guitar man]

87. I hope Mr Pip is feeling better

I was there 2 weeks ago getting scrips filled for pneumonia and they left me sitting there for an hour. I felt awful and just wanted to get home and get to bed and I didn't think they were EVER going to get them filled....

[pipi_k]

90. He is, thank you....and you as well

sigh...once upon a time, there was respect/compassion for sick people.

The doctor made house calls...often had medicine with him. Or, you went to his office and he had samples. I remember many times my parents getting those little bottles of liquid penicillin that were either cherry or banana flavored.

Now?

Hah. Make an appointment, sit in an overcrowded waiting room for an hour if they're running behind, then get your prescription and drive over to some pharmacy where they're going to make you wait another hour.

Lord, I remember one time I had a raging earache and had to sit in a waiting room while a bunch of little kids screamed and ran around like savages and their moms ignored them. I was on the verge of tears and wanted to strangle everyone there.

ugh.

anyway, enough of my rant... hope you're feeling better now

[guitar man]

94. thanks

I'm much better now.

It's noteworthy that what you describe about sitting in the overcrowded waiting room and pharmacy is what the scenario the right wing loons are pushing against "gubmint run health care". I have to wonder if any of them have been to the doctor lately or if they are truly that irony impaired.

[Maru Kitteh]

111. Some of the ways of those "good old days" turned out to be not such a great thing.

Doctors are only human beings, subject to temptation and addiction like the rest of us, so it turns out sending Dr. Feelgood home with a bag full of awesome was a great way to turn more than a few perfectly good physicians into marvels of malpractice.

Sending every patient home with little bottles of banana flavored penicillin and passing out antibiotics like Skittles also turned out to be a spectacularly bad idea. It's that very practice that has given us MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus)and other lovely superbugs.

That said....

I totally agree with you about the waits at clinics and pharmacies. My mom has gone to the same clinic since I was a small child a little over four decades ago. We absolutely LOVED the physician she saw there, but the service and operation of the clinic itself has gotten so deplorable (just last week a nurse from a different physician gave us a callback with someone else's test results - which she left on VOICEMAIL) that I've finally been able to talk her into switching to the only other clinic in town - a move I made six years ago.

I know not everybody has options, we live in a really small town with very limited options too, but where and when one is able, I highly suggest looking for the smallest clinics and smallest pharmacies you can find. I like the fact that when I call my clinic I talk to a human, not an automated phone directory and my doctor calls me back herself with my test results. When I take my script to the pharmacy I don't have to stand in a line three deep, give my entire life's story and provide 3 forms of I.D. It's nice. It's the way it should be.

[pipi_k]

145. Being rural, we have two health clinics nearby that are way better

than having to go to the city doctor's offices/clinics.

Same as you...we have the same doctor, if you call and want to speak to the doctor you usually can (at some point).

The only thing I do regret living way out here is that the nearest hospitals are both at least 20 miles away. It wasn't such a problem when we were younger, but as we've gotten older we have gotten a bit concerned about the distance. Especially scary was the year Mr Pip had a dire medical emergency and I had to drive him to the ER and back home TWICE in the same night over winding country roads and hills. The third time we got home and he started bleeding again I was exhausted and had to call the town ambulance to come pick him up. He ended up staying in the hospital for four days. Don't know why they released him TWICE before that.

[LiberalAndProud]

55. It's kind of fun to think of alternate scenarios.

Since you weren't wearing your politics on your sleeve, I wonder how she would have reacted if you had just said, "I KNOW, Right?"

The C word would have made that difficult but ... I'll bet the expression on her face would have been priceless.

[Javaman]

56. She did all the work for you.

You didn't need a snappy come back, that woman was already a train wreck.

there is no way to reason with people like that. They don't want a debate or have a reasoned discussion, they are robots programmed to shout and scream talking point.

You would have a more effective conversation with an ATM machine, at least that spits out money. LOL

[Javaman]

59. Quick side note...

A friend of mine is a republican. I bumped into him the other day. He was with some other people. He introduced me as his "socialist" friend. I laughed and said, "that's okay, I have to do my best to keep you fascists in line". They all scowled at me. Even my friend.

I looked him sideways and said, "you can dish it out but you can't take it, huh?"

He looked down at his feet and said, "you're right". I shrugged, slapped him on the back and said, "no worries, just be prepared for a retort next time to introductions like that".

we are still friends.

[pipi_k]

88. One of my most fervent wishes...

to be able to give back as good as I got, with good humor...

yay for you!

[MrMickeysMom]

63. I guess if you still pray that you see this woefully awful woman again...

... you get her license plate. Tape recorders are good, or just a pencil and post it note. If you have a digital camera, or camcorder, get it on record. Then, report her sorry ass as an act of assault (fearful of battery to come?)

If they won't be silenced, then we'll make sure it's on the record.

[Qutzupalotl]

109. Yes, assault can be a simple threat, and entirely verbal.

Battery is, well, battering.

[raccoon]

65. First off, let me say I think you handled it well. You can't reason with somebody

like that; you might as well try to teach a rabid dog to fetch, sit, etc.

But so what if she called you the C word--you're a guy, right? Isn't that like someone calling a woman a dick? It just don't compute.

Try to put her out of your mind. She sounds mentally ill.

[Locrian]

66. deep south in the 1950's-1960's

Someone wrote into The Young Turks and made a very interesting observation: That the last time he saw this type of hate, rage, red-faced, screaming, rabid behavior was in the 1950's-1960 during desegregation.

Now I'm not saying this is all racist (it may be a part though I'm sure), but it is the deep seated FEAR that these type of people have with the chance that *someone else* might benefit at their expense. And that their "world" is changing and they have no control over it.

Ironically, it is the very people they have voted into office that have fucked them over. They just dont see it.

[leftynyc]

67. I'm sorry this happened to you

Next time simply point to her or to the bumpersticker and laugh. Her head will explode. Or ask her if she kisses her children with that filthy mouth.

[kevinbgoode]

69. I don't think her abusive behavior is that unusual among their ilk

. . .in fact, they count on it as a bullying technique to scare people into not responding to their attacks. In their minds, no response means they are right and have "won."

Frankly, her tantrum would have made me laugh out loud - yes, right in her face. There are few things more comical than someone who claims to be a "patriotic" American and yet has to be spoonfed by a cabal of radio talk show host and a television "news" network that do her thinking for her. I'm afraid I'd be tempted to just say "The only think ruining this country are people who choose to be ignorant because they want some talking head to tell them what to think and do."

Frankly, I've rarely had to deal with these people - they just aren't part of my social circle. I've had a few students who like to start their memorized rant about the "liberals" but then don't know what to say when I ask if conservatives are "con-artists."

I don't think these people realize that the large majority of Americans are getting increasingly fed up with their tantrums and demonizing rhetoric - it just doesn't overwhelm people with fear the way it used to - and I wonder if the best approach to dealing with this kind of tirade is not to just break out in laughter. Yes. . .laughter. If we would all learn how to just laugh at these clowns, their tirades wouldn't be able to bully people for long.

[AspenRose]

80. I would agree

Laughter works because those types of people hate to be ridiculed.

[Taverner]

71. Where was this?

[romantico]

77. Connecticut

Happened in the parking lot in Avon,Connecticut.Same parking lot I saw Lowell Weicker at about 6 months ago.

[NewJeffCT]

103. You're kidding?

I live right near there.

[PearliePoo2]

108. Did you have a cell phone with a camera?

If you calmly said to her, "Just a sec please, I want to get this moment captured. Especially your face and license plate number.
Then I will run it back for you so you can see what you look like.
"Now.....please continue....what were you saying again?"
Do you think she would have attacked you?
If she did, could you kick her ass?

[scheming daemons]

73. Actually... your smirk was the PERFECT response

There's nothing these people hate more than being ridiculed.


And there's no ridicule that sets them off more than a simple smirk, snork, or laugh.


That one act is worth 1000 words shouted back at her.


It proclaims your superiority, your disdain for everything she stands for, and your contempt for her all in a single second or two.


You don't think you knew what to say?


Your smirk was all you had to say.


You ruined her day.


Bravo!

[Neecy]

75. She was looking for a fight

She had that bumper sticker on her car for one reason only: to get a reaction so she could cut loose with her insanity. That's why she was on high alert when you saw the sticker and reacted to such a minor facial expression.

I agree with those who said you should have just turned your back and walked away from her. I wouldn't have let her stand there and repeatedly use vile profanity on me. That's EXACTLY what she wanted - an ugly confrontation. I'll bet she's bragging to her fellow freepers about how she 'confronted' a "socialist".

If you see her again, let her stew in her own shit.

[Centrisms Voice]

101. Or maybe for...

Perhaps she was looking for a face full of pepper spray. Or a tasing. The original poster would have been well within the law to provide this charming woman with either.

[ShortnFiery]

79. You did just fine.

I never engage right wingers. They are that crazy. Furthermore, you can't influence someone who is so closed minded. Thank goodness there were no children around.

[hamsterjill]

83. Definitely another one of those to be designated "one crazy bitch"

In the words of Betty White when she was talking about Sarah Palin, she's "one crazy bitch". Sounds like you had your own version of that to deal with!

There must be a real sense of desperation among these types to just go off on a complete stranger. And you did the right thing to refrain from engaging her any more than you did.

I do think it's interesting that after you told her to "shut up", that all she said was "We won't be silenced" and then left without even going into the store. She was so angry that she couldn't function. So truthfully, your actions (or inaction) probably unsettled her a lot more than the whole situation unsettled you.

So on behalf of all of my fellow Dems, thank you for giving the likes of her a bad day!!!

[mwb970]

140. Maybe we can find her post on FR and compare stories.

"I was insulted and mercilessly attacked by a lying, Socialist liberal c--- today".

Or did she merely send an enraged e-mail about the incident to every wackaloon in her address book?

[rd_kent]

85. You did fine! Nothing you could have said would have made ANY difference.

She and the rest of her wingnut, racist, religious friends all live in the same psychotic mindset.

[Echo In Light]

86. People are unreccing this?

[Vincardog]

89. Next time this happens. Laugh your ass off. Roll on the ground holding your sides LAUGHING YOUR ASS

OFF. There is no other appropriate response to such childish outbursts.

[Common Sense Party]

102. I'd agree. Laughing at lunatics is about the only appropriate response.

It completely sucks the wind out of their sails.

[NewJeffCT]

106. Plus

the woman probably wouldn't know socialism if it bit her in the ass!

[LeftHander]

91. She was followed all day by Obama's secret socilaist army...

Obviously.

[librechik]

92. more anecdotal evidence that these people are

beyond reason. To say the least.

[dgibby]

95. Next time:

Next time you encounter her, tell her God loves her and so do you, and that you're praying for her. Then step back and watch her head explode. Works every time!

[DeschutesRiver]

98. Wish I'd been that shopper coming out of the store to see this happen

Most of the time I am extremely fast witted in those kinds of situations. I would have backed you up on this, provided that my quick assessment of the woman was that she was just repub crazy and not bonifide whackjob crazy. There is a difference, in that the former can be messed up badly with choice words/ideas, but messing with the latter can get you hurt or killed.

But learning to assess what kind of response to give is part of choosing to be confrontational back at someone who is unjustifiably tearing your hide off in public. Most of the time if it is directed at me, I choose to leave the situation, because being alive is always preferred to ending up dead over some complete stranger's ranting and taunting actions. Boy, what a change for me who was a quick witted, smart ass, hot tempered young part Irish girl, who has tried really hard to mute her fierceness so that it is more useful - like using it to come to someone else's defense. I still do that whenever it is safe to do so. If I thought she was whackjob, I'd have still come over and given you enough cover to get the hell away from the danger. There is no reason for any of us to give up perfectly happy and good lives due to a chance encounter with a person whose threshold for frustration is sub-normal and who acts out regularly because they have no self control or ability to think or reason anymore. That needs to remain their problem, and not be allowed to intrude in our lives and be made our problem as well.

Good news is that you'll likely be more situationally aware of things around you now, so that in the future if this were to happen, first thing you'll do is take her license number or pull out your cell phone and ask her to hold still and try to speak more clearly and with less spittle while she threatens you because you are filming it and forwarding it as she speaks to the local police station and your attorney - and you want it really clear for the prosecutor. And tell her "ain't technology grand?"....

[TexasThoughtCriminal]

100. Your smirk caused her to leave before picking up her anti-psychotics

[jimlup]

104. Make no mistake - that woman is clearly sick

Don't seek her out. Don't say anything to her. She obviously has some very serious problems. Leave her alone and give her distance.

Realize that you did nothing wrong. Your saying "Shut Up" was a perfectly responsible reply. She had no right to call you out for a
facial expression. Don't kick yourself for doing what you should have. You were not impeding her 1st Amendment rights so her reply was ridiculous. You had every right to defend your integrity and to tell her to "Shut Up". She is obviously unstable and hopefully someone will help her before she endangers herself or others.

[NewJeffCT]

105. As an FYI -

I see this Toyota Prius all the time not far up the road from your Walgreens - it has a McCain-Palin sticker on it, as well as a "Obama the next JC" - and a picture of Jimmy Carter there, and another one that says "just say NO to socialism" or something like that.

it's a toyota prius, too.

[butterfly77]

107. I know what you mean about..

when someone makes you angry and you can't think of anything to afterwards about what you should have said at the time. Now,don't you understand that they are hypocrites. Bush didn't win but we couldn't be angry and we had more of a right to be angry,they couldn't be upset about spending with all of Bush did. So,the only conclusion I can come to is racism.

They thought that we couldn't say anything when they stole the election and we aren't suppose to say anything and we won. They want to kill us and call us unamerican but,I have realized that they are completely insane... In their minds they really do think that we aren't real americans.

[mudplanet]

110. I'm sorry this happened to you, but

you can consider it your "dose of suffering" for doing what's right and that you've joined, in a small way, the ranks of all the people that have suffered unjustly at the hands of Nazi's, fascists, and bullies everywhere.

If you aren't really pissing off the evil people around you, you aren't doing something right.

A good way to respond to people like this is to smile and give them the peace sign. But be ready to run if you do because they'll go ballistic. You can also smile and say in a condescending voice, "Oh, you poor dear." (Sometimes I'm glad I'm 6'1" and weigh 250 - these idiots tend to leave me alone)

Maybe you could write a letter to the editor of your local paper recounting the episode. I'd leave out the word smirk. It's her call to interpret a facial expression. I was once carrying equipment into a hotel for a job and had to wait for a woman who worked at the hotel to move from in front of the elevator. As I stood watching her, she turned and looked at me and said, "What are you smirking at!" The plain fact is that we feel sorry for these people.

Just be glad you don't live in her head - no telling what that scene looks like. Your level of discomfort at being called the C word is her normal state of being.

[JustAnotherGen]

113. Maybe it's because

I too get unhinged -

But I think we need a mantra for all of the DU'ers that 'freeze' when confronted with this complete fringe lunacy . . .


"Hey lady! Get f*cked!" Lather, rinse, repeat.

It's short, sweet and to the point. Then again, I drive down to the shore on Sundays (Jersey) all summer - and all the "Get f*cked's!" and ranting and raving in traffic is in good humor.

Oy! Sorry you had to deal with that but in the future - don't freeze.

Just throw a "Get f*cked!" out there and keep walking.
Or if that's too much for you, "Get bent" works well too!

Oh Almost forgot! I had to do that a few times during the 08 election due to my bumper sticker. So I speak from experience. Especially if you are a woman and it's a man???? They are stunned 9 times out of a 10 that a woman is getting lippy and putting them in their place. Kind of silences the Stupids when they step out.

[704wipes]

124. saying 'get fucked' is ok but I think

"Awwww, Go fuck yourself." is a little better... imho

Go fuck your pathetic self.
Go fuck yourself in the ass.
Go fuck yourself since your husband probably don't.
Go sit on it sister.
Aww, blow it out your ass.


Get my drift?

[ddeclue]

114. I'd have called her in to the cops as under the influence of narcotics. and/or DUI and acting crazy.

and let her explain to the cops that she wasn't for the next three hours.

[jeffrey_X]

115. these people are so unhappy with their own lives, they are looking to take it out SOMEWHERE

she probably married her high school sweetheart and then had some babies a few years later. All of a sudden, she's 35 years old and realized she missed out on having a life. She's popping SSRI's, hates her husband and hates her miserable life in the suburbs.

[Patsy Stone]

116. Wow

She had a lot of issues. This reminds me of something my mother used to tell me. Your FReeper did a Jack Story:

“A guy is driving through the desert when one of his tires blows out. He gets out of his car and pops open the trunk to look for a spare tire and a jack. He sees the spare, but there’s no jack. “Oh s*#&!,” he yells. ‘I’ve got to walk back to the gas station I passed five miles ago!’”

“So he starts walking. ‘I hope he has a jack,’ he says to himself. Half way there he mumbles anxiously, ‘He better have a jack.’ When he’s almost there he growls, ‘That son of a b#@t% better let me use his jack!’”

“Minutes later he finally arrives at the gas station. He’s hot; he’s frustrated; he’s fuming. He sees the station owner in the garage and he walks up to him and says, ‘Hey buddy! You can just forget it! Keep your g#@ d@% jack!’”

“He turns around and walks five miles back to his car…with no jack.”

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

117. Sounds like one of those Drama Queens. I have a few in my family.

They are difficult types to deal with.

[Ilsa]

118. Start laughing and pointing at her like she obviously needs to

have a straight jacket put on her. MEntion something about "Call CPS, for the sake of the baby!" and watch run away like the cockroach she is.

[WestSeattle2]

119. I probably would have started laughing...really! Bizarre stuff

like this always sets me off for some reason. It's just the insanity of it that I always find humorous. And yeah, I would have laughed in her face.

Clearly the freak was unhinged, but we can still laugh, can't we?

[rosesaylavee]

121. You did good... I either can't of something to say or start laughing

which would have probably just sent her completely over the edge. Hope your day went better than it started. Don't let her disturbed behavior effect you.

[wroberts189]

122. It would not have mattered if you had come up with anything to say back.

These people are insane and cannot be reasoned with... you did the right thing in not egging her on. She is probably looking for someone to take her rage out on and God only knows how far.

It is very easy to get a bit shaken up in these types of encounters.. like another poster said "you did good"

[lunasun]

123. Get crap all the time like this

and not even smirking ... just  a natural born US citizen who
looks like I wasn't born here. Idiots scream at me all the
time with out any interaction on my part!!  Where should I go
back to? I ask sometimes or say " sorry I asked" (I
didn't-hope they get it but too much to wish for)
but it doesn't really stop someone on a tirade and at least
there was no harm attempted to you but who knows next time
...not like the SUV with old 'W 'sticker that tried to run me
and my daughter who is 8, off the road while swearing at
us..again no interaction... just came to a stoplight along
side us and I guess it was saturday night 7pm so about time
for messing with people they don't like the looks of..and
being cowards decided a woman with a kid was what they could
take on. My daughter asked me if i was hurt by what the men
said and I told her no just mad that they could have hit the
car or injured us and there are a lot of angry people in the
country right now. AND it is getting bad out there lot of 
crazies getting crazier and the talking heads love the $$$
& do not care about the consequences of the hate they
breed . Yet these boobs say Obama is like Hitler????  My only
solace is they look so angry that I figure they will have a
heart attack, stroke, or cancer soon and I will still be
around so F'em but I didn't tell my kid that!

[Tangerine LaBamba]

126. You did fine -

there's no talking to crazy people, and it sounds to me like she had a whole lot of other issues working inside her head to make her behave that way. You might just have been an innocent passerby, the one who was there at the exact wrong time.

I think you did exactly the right thing. I'm sorry you're so rattled, but who wouldn't be upset after a violent encounter like that. I mean, the "C" word? That's a bit overboard.

Don't go looking for her. Be glad she's gone. I hope she never crosses your path again, my friend. You did nothing wrong, but you ran into a crazy person.

Just stay safe, and make sure you get coffee before you go out. Or something like that.

I'm glad you're all right and able to be here and tell everyone about it.

This is just an awful, awful story.......................................

[elleng]

127. REAL justice would be if she got a traffic ticket on her way away.Mebbe she did.

You did fine, made a decent point without aggravating the situation further.

[Usrename]

128. There's really nothing to say, except maybe...

"to have a conversation with you would be like arguing with a dining room table"

hehe

[knixphan]

129. 'Shut up' works for me :)

And next time, keep smirking...

...and just bust out into laughter.

They HATE it when you laugh.

[laughingliberal]

130. The anatomy of rage

People tend to rage when feelings of pain, shame, and fear converge and they lack the coping skills to work through these feelings appropriately. The act of raging at another person is to push their pain, shame, and fear onto the other person. Generally the rager walks away feeling justified and leaves their victim feeling pain, shame, and fear. Give her feelings back to her. There is no shame in not having a response to an offender like this one. Best I can usually do with someone on a rant is: "Bite me," and walk off.

[MajorChode]

131. I think I would have just laughed uncontrollably at such a display of stupidity

But there's lots of freepers around here and they are an endless source of entertainment.

[moriah]

134. Me too, her rant would have just made me giggle harder.

I might have gotten myself killed if just a smirk had pissed her off that badly.

[JVS]

151. Start shouting "4 more years!"

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

135. You're lucky she didn't have a gun

Most of these fucks do.

[burning rain]

136. You look at such a person coldly & thank her....

for being so open about who she is, so that when the socialist revolution comes--as soon it will--you and the other revolutionary Marxists will know to come and hang her from a lamp post straight away.

[CoffeeCat]

137. Rightwingradio Crazy Syndrome...

Right-wing radio is turning people into raving lunatics.

They're doing this on purpose--at the behest of the neocons and the corporatists who want a
divided, vitriolic, fractured America. It's the only way they win. Obama has the power
to unite us all and to appeal to our better angels. They must destroy this. They must
demonize Obama to the point where he is a scary, horrible man--and they must make us
hate each other.

They cannot win by arguing their point of view on healthcare. They have no plan. Their
views make no sense. And they damn well know it. All they can do is strike blinding
fear in people and yell, "Socialism". That's their healthcare plan.

The sad thing is...it's working on many levels. We're fighting tooth and nail for a public
option--with full control of the White House and both houses of Congress.

Our corporate masters--who control our politicians--have filtered their strategy through the
talk-radio airwaves, and that woman has bought into all of it.

SAD.

[havocmom]

142. They don't really fret about being silenced, they are pissed they can't control everyone else

THAT is their real beef. A big majority of American voters put Obama in office and the wingers found out:
A) They are not the majority they thought they were
B) They are not the all powerful socio/political force they thought they were
C) They are not the boss of us like they though they were
D) The facade on their delusions is a pile of rubble around their feet and they are having trouble moving.

Last fall, I wrote, in several places, that the wingers were gonna get damned hostile as they were confronted with the reality that their delusions were just that. Delusional people get pretty damned nasty when their delusions are challenged. Some will defend their perception of 'reality' to the point of becoming violent. A few will eventually come to terms with the difference between their long held delusions and the greater realities, but very few and not without a fight.

In these cases, the 'won't be silenced' crap is just the battle cry of the delusion. It really means: 'Won't face reality without a whole lotta kicking and screaming'.

Nobody is trying to silence them. It is reality that threatens them, and they are having to deal with reality. Some are not dealing well at all; defense of the delusion becomes much more forceful.

[deaniac21]

146. bumper stickers are serious business

[tanyev]

148. When they start cursing,that's when you ask "Is that the same mouth you use to pray to Jesus?"

[L0oniX]

153. We need "MORAN" bumper stickers to put on the cars of idiots like her.

[Crzyrussell]

154. I wouldn't

have smirked. The whole episode started with a smirk...


Try smiling instead!