A Christmas Comparison

I have a lot of posts about the differences between D.C., and living in the West.

Today, I have a comparison.

I made a rather huge mistake in going to Wal-Mart today. Yeah, I know...Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve day. Not smart.

But I needed to get groceries for when my family comes tomorrow and I thought Wal-Mart would be the most cost effective place to get this done. It was. But it was also the most out-of-control location in the whole town, I think.

Traffic was bad, drivers were bad, crowds were bad - all like D.C.

And then it happened. I nearly had an altercation in the parking lot. Like an I-want-to-get-out-of-my-car-and-get-in-your-face altercation. The kind of feelings/incidents I would have in D.C., on nearly a daily basis.

No matter what those of you who know me might believe, I HAVE become a more lenient, nicer person since being here. I let things slide much, much more than I ever, ever did in D.C.

Today? Nope, couldn't do it. It is the first time I actually leaned long and hard on my car horn with some very choice words for the idiot driver. Now, I had actual words in Colorado Springs earlier this year with another idiot driver, but it had yet to happen here.

So, I left Wal-Mart feeling decisively un-Christmassy, and wishing very un-Christmassy things on that driver.

I am over it now, and very much in the mood to celebrate Christmas, as you will soon see in my next post...