This afternoon while leaving the grocery store, I came across an older lady waiting for her paratransit ride. Paratransit is a service that helps people with disabilities go shopping, visit friends and generally have equal access to public transportation. This lady was utilizing the service to take her groceries home.

After a few minutes, the van drove up, and the driver started helping the lady place her groceries into the back. As soon as the driver started helping the lady, some guy started raising general hell. The gist of the bitch fest was that the driver should not have parked near the store, and the fact that the lady was crippled and can’t walk long distances didn’t matter.

The driver was very professional, and said to the irate citizen in a calm voice, “Sir I’m just doing my job, and if you have a problem with it, you can call the number on the side of the van and report me.” The angry man still yelled, and the driver started explaining how the service worked, while continuing to load the lady’s groceries into the back of the van, totally ignoring all threats and remaining calm.

When he was done, the driver put the basket away, and drove off. The man who was yelling, turned to me and complained that the driver was rude and ignorant. I calmly tapped my cane on the ground, and told him in my deepest voice, “God don’t’ like ugly.” He then asked me why I didn’t use the service, to which I replied “I do, I also am on the advisory board for the service, and that man is going to get a positive recommendation for dealing with your foolishness.”

Sometimes, it’s best to keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, everyone knows how stupid you really are.