Rant #1,575: Car Wars

This past weekend was a difficult one for me, and it had nothing to do with what I felt about the new "Star Wars" film.

On Saturday, my car got scraped by another car, a car of which I have no clue of its identity, since it was a hit and run, evidently while my wife and I were doing food shopping.

My car, I surmise, must have got hit in the Walmart parking lot, and the person driving the car got on his or her giddyap and left us well before we could have seen who inflicted the damage on my poor vehicle.

I didn't even know that we had been hit until hours later.

It occurred on the rear passenger side, and the only reason I even saw it is that when taking my son to his bowling league, he left his water in the car after we got there, so we both walked back to the car, and Voila!, the dent and scratches were there.

It looked very fresh, so I would estimate that it happened earlier in the day, although I cannot be 100 percent sure about that.

Anyway, perhaps with a little touch up paint, and I can make it look like new again, but as you can tell, I wasn't happy about these circumstances, and I am still fuming over this.

Anyway, to add insult to injury, we had another car incident after seeing the new "Star Wars" movie.

First, about the movie: I am never going to be a "Star Wars" fan, and I haven't been one since the first movie.

My family and I saw this one yesterday in IMAX and 3D, and well, I still am not a fan of the movie, but most of it kept me occupied, at least.

I know it has gotten good reviews, but honestly, if you are like me--not really a fan--it is not a movie that I would recommend, although I have to say, some of the touches in it were quite good, including bringing back Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, some of the in-jokes that were worked into the storyline ... and I dare you to tell me where James Bond himself, Daniel Craig, is in the movie (I knew immediately).

Well, when we came out of the theater, we went to our car, and the theater that we saw the film in shares its parking lot with a Starbucks, with a drive through.

The place was busy, and the line extended to just behind my car, which means my car was blocked from moving out of its space.

We had somewhere else to go after the film--to my brother in law's house for a party for his wife's daughter--and we wanted to leave the parking lot and be on our way.

I saw as we approached my car that we were being blocked by the last car in the line, so as we got to my car, I said to the driver of the blocking car, "Would it be possible for you to back up a little bit and let me out?" (And I said it just like that--no nastiness at all.)

The woman, who had another woman in the car, both looking like my age, replied, "I will move forward as the line moves."

Uh oh.

I proceeded to my car, and as I started the car, I noticed that the car behind me had not moved. There was still nobody else on the line, so there was no one behind the offending car.

I beeped my horn, got out of my car, and proceeded to the blocking car.

"I asked you nicely if you would just back up so I could get out. What is the problem?" I asked, not yelling, just asking her.

Well, the woman and her companion said to me, "Go f- youself," presented me with the golden finger in the air, and well, this is the holiday season, you know.

I got angry, I did, and one thing led to another, and the woman's companion was going to get out of the car and attack my son, who had ran out of the car and started to yell at her too.

And by the way, the line had still not moved, and she was still the last one in line through this altercation, which probably lasted about two minutes.

And yes, I did get her license plate number.

Finally, the line moved, and the offending car did too, and funny, as I was backing out, another car came to the line, and as I had asked the woman to do, this car gave me plenty of room to get out before they went on the line. I didn't even have to ask.

It is called kindness, something that I have found is in little regard during this season, for whatever reason.

We then proceeded on our way, without further incident.

And as this weekend right before Christmas came to an end, I really had to ask myself this one simple question: "Why are people so 'nice' during this time of year?"

I have no idea, none at all.