By
Dana Rausch
/ August 20, 2012
This weekend we were with friends out at the lake. We packed up the boat and headed down to a favorite location and found the perfect spot to pull in between two other boats. We unloaded our chairs, cooler and easy-up for shade. After setting it all up, we began our relaxing day of floating in the water.
A few minutes later we see a friend drive by in his boat and he pulls over to chat for a few minutes. He tells that his family is just around the corner so maybe he will go get them and come back to hang out with us. Within 10 minutes, the boat beside us left, so we placed two lawn chairs in the spot to save for our friends who would be returning shortly. As I sat under the shade in my beach chair with my feet splashing in the water, a boat begins to pull in to the “chair area” as we waved them off.
A woman in the boat stood up and started demanding that since our people were not there, they could take the spot. They continued pulling in and the nose of their boat hit our two chairs. My compliant husband standing in the water shook his head to me with the meaning…..”Let it go. Don’t make a big deal out of it. Let them have the spot.”
He obviously knew the reaction fuse that had sparked in me. Everything in me wanted to jump up and stick my finger in her face and let her know she was messing with the wrong person! I have never been in a physical fight in my life, but I wanted to then.
Why? I didn’t like that this stranger decided to take control. This was our spot to hang out and we were saving it for our friends NOT HER! And besides, if the chairs are there……it means something! It means do not park there. But she was better than any rules (unwritten in this case) and she was going to do what SHE WANTED TO DO.
While this was is transpiring, Don and I were having a stare down. He was thinking, ‘O Dana, please don’t be an embarrassment by becoming unglued! Please don’t do it, please don’t do it, please don’t do it! His pleading eyes are boring into me.
I sat there contemplating….. do I strike like the coiled snake I feel inside….or sit here in my chair……..my knuckles turning white holding the chair arm, my tongue bloodied for biting it. I took some deep breaths as I considered my options: Let it go or unleash.
I chose to let it go. Took me a few minutes to calm down, yet I was awarded when the men on the boat waved us off and pulled back out with the demanding woman ranting and raving at them now.
I am so glad I acknowledged the meaning of Don’s look. We have learned to read each other well. Truly there are silly things that we make big deals out of……only to regret later.