Not Part of the Magic

Back from vacation.
Hi all. Hope you had a nice looonggg weekend and Thanksgiving. I sure did!
For the past week I've been enjoying warm weather and sunshine. My family, plus McGruff enjoyed our Turkey in Florida, then traveled north to the wonderful World of Disney for a few days. We swam with my niece and nephew. Ate, a lot. Played cribbage. Visited Mickey's house.
Actually, that brings up an odd story.
At Disney World you might expect some over-tired, crabby kids. You might expect crazy crowds and being bumped into from time-to-time. You might even expect a few less-than-nice adults. I did not expect this...
After a full day of fun-filled adventures, my family congregated on the side walk near the start of the light parade. Our Disney day of fun was coming to an end, but luckily we arrived early enough for a prime spot to watch the parade.
We parked the stroller and lined the edge of the street, all sitting to rest our weary legs. We were lucky to get such a good spot, as people were lined up on main street at least an hour ahead of the parade start. We sat on the sidewalk for over a half hour, the crowd filling in behind us. About five minutes before the parade was to start, a man with his wife and two daughters walked up. My dad had stood from his spot to take a phone call. The woman proclaimed "oh good, the girls can sit right there" (pointing to the spot at my dad's feet, where he had been sitting seconds before). The man stood right in front of my dad. My dad told him that he was standing there. The man argued back with my dad. My dad abruptly hung up his phone and said "no, I've been standing here for a long time, this is my family and this is our spot for the parade." The man argued back that my dad wasn't going to allow two little kids to watch the parade (this was a pretty heated discussion already). My dad said no. (The people behind us had been waiting for a long time already too, how was it fair to let these two johnny-come-latelys have a spot?!?! besides the man was extremely rude.) The man got right in my dad's face telling him he was being a jerk, was rude. My (feisty) sister came over to tell the man that he should just move on. The man got in my sister's face. He started to raise his voice. Telling them they were ridiculous, out of line. Finally, I stood up (seeing my dad's face flush red), I came over and asked the man to leave us alone, "we're just trying to watch the parade." The man dropped an f-bomb (despite the plethora of young kids around us). My nephew (who is only 3) climbed out of the stroller to see his Papa. My sister bent down to pick up her son, when the man shouted at her again - telling her how rude we were being. Arguing that the people behind us were his mother and that we should move. That's when my brother-in-law (bil) and McGruff stood up. Bil went toe-to-toe with this man and flat out told him to step back, and NEVER speak to his wife like that again. Bil's fists were clenched, arm muscles tensing. Finally, another man came up, told the first man to leave. After a few more choice words and some convincing from the second man, the jerk left. The second man apologized for the jerks behavior.
Later, I learned that this jerk had walked through the crowd from behind us about 20 minutes earlier. So, apparently he was out galavanting and having fun, while the rest of us patiently waited in our parade spots, he then returned expecting preferential treatment.

What on earth is wrong with some people? First off, that guy was completely out of control, uncalled for, RUDE. Secondly, nice example for the young children around, not to mention the two little girls with him. Thirdly, you are NOT entitled to a spot for the parade. My family wanted to enjoy the parade and excitement of the young people we were with, we made the proper arrangements to do just that. Too bad for you that you didn't plan accordingly. Fourthly, don't swear and threaten people because you don't get your way. Be a real man, not a jerk.
Crazy to think that my family came very near to a fight at Disney World. After the parade, we left Disney

Publish Post

with a slightly bitter taste in our mouths, because a single person can be such a demanding and arrogant jerk. If the man would have politely asked my dad if his two girls could sit in front of my dad, he would have happily obliged. Instead, my faith in the human race was a bit bruised.