Car Bumpers and Social Media Pt. I.

Several weeks  ago I traveled to the Lancaster County City-State of Lititz. AKA Lititz Island. I call it that because it is hard to get to through narrow and congested South to North roads. It is self-contained, offering small town charm and quaint stores, and is a bit upscale for this area. It can be a bit touristy. Compared to Columbia, Lititz is the precocious favorite child and Columbia is left scrubbing the floors and doing other chores like the family black sheep on a Friday Night while the rest of the family is out at Applebees.

I had a four-layered visit planned. Going to Zest specialty cookware and food store to exchange my CO2 canister for my carbonated water dispenser. Zest is the only store in Pa. that takes exchanges and the price of a new canister is quite a bit cheaper than Amazon Prime, visit a coffee shop that close friends of mine just bought called Slate, eat at a great Mexican joint on Main Street titled Chilangos, decidedly not-uber-upscale, and end the night at the Bulls Head Tavern for some adult beverages. It was a lovely Friday Fall afternoon and evening.

On the way back to Columbia, I was on the merge for Route 30. Because the on-ramp is also and exit ramp for 283 due to traffic pattern constraints, cars fly by and I was inching my way up to merge slowly and had to stop because of exiting traffic onto 283 merge lane. I had made a mental note prior that the automobile behind me was one of those Retro Muscle Cars from Dodge, supposed to be reminiscent of Detroit ruling the automotive world. Anyone who drives a car like that which has more power than would ever be needed for American roads is trying to make a statement. I was like, "Great, Friday night cruising with American Graffiti posers on my rear bumper." The dude, distracted by something, crashed into the back of my car bumper. It was fairly jarring but a direct bumper to bumper hit with none of those sharp angles that crack the plastic covering.

I was fairly pissed and exasperated. I have issues with my car getting hit through no fault of my own. It has happened three times in the last ten to twelve years or so years with another two accidents from 20 or so years ago being a toss-up who was at-fault. Not sure why life is exacting a "Why is someone always picking on me?" Charlie Brown' type of carma deal on me. So, I got out of my car to investigate the damage. The young buck in the muscle car was entirely apologetic and said that he was totally at-fault. I agreed but really appreciated that he didn't try to shift blame. It could have gotten stupid had he gone on the offensive. He didn't. He was recalcitrant.  I chilled out and calmed down. My take on situations like this is if people own up, I need to extend grace. I do have anger issues with those who don't. I am not that spiritual I guess.  Like the dude in my neighborhood who stole my recycling bin and then continued to make the situation worse by being a douche.

There was only a little scratch on the bumper and the underlying frame was not damaged. The trunk still opened and closed fine. Since it was dark, I ran my hand along the bumper back and forth to see if I could feel a crack. Nothing, just a smidgen of paint on my black bumper from his red one. I told the dude just to be more careful and said that he could go his way. It felt like a reminder to not take offense beyond what is legit in potentially contentious situations. And be prepared and not surprised or shocked if the blame shifting occurs.

That is what caught me off-guard about the Recycling Bin thing a few years ago. I expected the dude to come clean and smile sheepishly that I caught him red-handed. Instead he escalated it and it took every ounce of Gandhi in me not to reach through his screen door and wring his little puny and punk neck. I was shocked how stupid it got in seconds.  And I learned a lesson. I don't think the Lord would be impressed if I got shot in someone's front yard over a recycling bin. That is not Braveheart heroic.     

Next week I plan to write about a social media post I made last night and the large amount of replies that I received from all over and how I replied to others' comments. I think we are still learning as a world of how to interact on social media in constructive ways. I know schools have faced incredible challenges in facing the issues that inappropriate or worse posts and comments create. It is literally a data deluge akin to the Noahic Flood. We spend hours trying to find out where those bits of tech feathers have flown to and how to get it back in the pillow. The tech giants never envisioned the dark Pandora-Box potentiality of their making.   

Being constructive and even confrontational can be done but caution is key. We have to have some bumpers in place on both sides and keep things square in order to avoid the cracking.