Pretty Boy rides again (unfortunately)

Last Updated on September 30, 2010 by Dave Farquhar

I was at the grocery store on Sunday with my girlfriend, Amanda, stocking up on whatever was on sale. Since I’ve got a pantry now, I’m gonna use it. As we went through the store, we passed a petite girl, around 5’4″, with sandy blonde hair.
Then her boyfriend and her (maybe their) daughter appeared. He was about six feet, with short, cropped dark hair. It was longer on top and it was teased out at the edges. It was styled more than most guys bother with, and he didn’t look all that happy to be there or all that happy to be with her. He had lots of words written all over him: Cocky. Pretty Boy. Arrogant. Jerk.

She and I made eye contact, briefly. There was an intense sense of curiosity and at least a hint of longing in her eyes, as if she was wondering if I was like her guy. If all guys are like her guy.

I didn’t think much of it until we went to the checkout line. The trio came around just after we did. She went into the checkout lane next to the one we were in. Pretty Boy got into the checkout lane behind us. After I paid, I walked down to the end to start bagging, and Amanda stayed behind in the lane, feeding the remaining groceries down the conveyer belt to me. As she fed the last couple of items down to me, Pretty Boy rammed his cart into her back. “Excuse me,” he said, very loudly and impatiently. She scurried out of his way.

I bagged the last couple of items as Amanda walked around beside me. I swung the cart around towards the exit, pushed it a few inches, then turned around to Pretty Boy. “Next time, why don’t you say ‘Excuse me,’ before you mow her down with the cart?” I asked.

“Oh, shut up,” Pretty Boy said angrily.

Ah, so I’d come upon the center of the universe and I was in the wrong for not acknowledging that. In his mind. (The rest of us don’t live in that world, fortunately.)

I looked Pretty Boy straight in the eye. “Thanks for being a [one-syllable word that begins with “p” and rhymes with “kick”],” I said.

The cashier looked our direction. Pretty Boy looked around, then looked abck at me and mouthed a three-letter word that starts with “F” that’s derogatory to homosexual males.

Noting that he wasn’t worth any more expenditure of oxygen, I turned around and walked away.

Why Pretty Boy chose to question my sexuality with my girlfriend (who holds her own in the looks department too) standing right there, I’m not sure. I asked her about that after we got in the car. The best I could think of was that maybe he didn’t know what the word means. After all, “homosexual” is a complex idea and the word is three syllables more than the longest word he uttered in our presence, and the longest sentence he uttered was all of three words, including “Oh,” which is a common filler word thrown in to sentences to buy time as your brain searches for the right words to say. So Pretty Boy didn’t exactly bowl me over with his speaking ability or intelligence.

I also noted that my one friend who does happen to be homosexual is 6’2″ and wouldn’t have had any trouble whatsoever knocking Pretty Boy down on his cocky, arrogant butt and mopping the floor with it. And he probably wouldn’t have hesitated to do it either.

That’s overreacting. Calling attention to his behavior and letting his true colors shine through for all around to see ought to be pennance enough for what he did. She said he didn’t hurt her.

But if Pretty Boy’s behavior is indicative of how he treats women, I can’t help but think that if someone does overreact next time and sprawls Pretty Boy across the floor, the world will be a better place for it.

At least for the moment before he stands back up.

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8 thoughts on “Pretty Boy rides again (unfortunately)

  • November 18, 2002 at 10:47 pm
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    David, this is seriously out of character for you.

    Clearly, the guy’s a prick, but why antagonize pricks? What’s the point of inciting them to random acts of violence? His girlfriend already knows he’s a prick, and violent. Antagonizing him has the most probable result of increasing the likelyhood he’ll beat HER not YOU.

    I am confused by your actions and your emotional response to them.

    Rick

  • November 19, 2002 at 12:13 am
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    I hope standing up for my girlfriend when he hit her with a cart isn’t out of character. I’ve been like that since I was a kid. My dad was always like that.

    Maybe saying something more is a little out of character, but I don’t think so. I’ve always been one to call it like I see it. And to be honest, if he’d done it to me, I’d have glared at him and that would have been it. When it’s my girlfriend or my sister or my mom, that’s different. I’ve always been that way. I’ve got a protective streak when women that I care about aren’t getting the respect they deserve.

    I didn’t deck the guy, but I think it’s only natural to wonder who would.

    As far as his own girlfriend goes, I think my actions could potentially even do her some good. If she’s standing there when another guy confronts him for mistreating a woman and she sees that some males do regard women as something inherently valuable and even stand up for them, and she thinks of that the next time he’s violent to her… Maybe, just maybe, it’ll be a step on the road to her leaving the scumbag.

  • November 19, 2002 at 12:27 am
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    Dave,
    You did right and if you had hit him that would have been right to. Don’t strike women with any weapon including a shopping cart is something his daddy should have taught him.
    A Texan Agrees,
    Joseph

  • November 19, 2002 at 12:42 pm
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    Hey, Joseph! A fellow Texan agrees, too.

    I’ve been in a very similar situation when I lived in Tennessee. Unfortunately, I had a bigger temper back then and I *did* deck the guy. Being escorted from Wal-Mart by security isn’t my idea of a great night.

  • November 19, 2002 at 11:45 pm
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    OK, let me try again then.

    It’s the “Thanks for being a prick” part that I was commenting on. I certainly understand your defending your girfriend. No problem.

    The out-of-character part was “Thanks for being a prick” instead of “You are a very rude person. I am sorry we met” I certainly understand that what you said was equivalent and probebly better understood by the recipient, but you responded _at his level_.

    In my mind, you always strike high.

    Hmmmm perhaps it’s that I expect eloquence from you. You _write_ eloquently.

    Oh well, again, not a person who deserves that much of my thought.

    Thanks for the followup.

    Rick

  • November 20, 2002 at 8:35 am
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    ya should have decked the [expletive] with a can of peas in your hand.

    Bitch hits your woman with a cart and can’t even say sorry. Knock a few points off his ego as he spends a few weeks eating through a straw and removing his teeth at night.

    Though, in my books had he aplogized…sure

  • November 20, 2002 at 1:19 pm
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    Word up, anon! DF shoulda put the smack down on that biatch for givin’ his girl da bump. Bus’ a cap an’ make him think about his dissin’ and find a new rap, yo. You gots ta protect yo piece, homeslice. She don’t have no bumper like a damn shoppin’ cart! What’s the harm in throwin’ down when talkin’ got the job done? Peace out…

  • November 21, 2002 at 5:04 pm
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    Dave,

    I’m glad that you spoke up and defended your girlfriend with words instead of force. Guy’s like that need to be reminded that they just can’t go around pushing others out of their way. The guy just isn’t mature enough to come out of his miserable cave and be civilized.

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