Midwest Chick's Place

(A.K.A. Non-Original Rants)

–Co-opting good stuff from all over the ‘Net and maybe some original thoughts—ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

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Just saying no….

Standing at the train station waiting for my folks to emerge from their respective bathrooms, I was approached by a young man who said “Excuse me miss, may I borrow your cell phone?”  I looked at him and said “Yes I mind, and I’m sorry, but no you may not borrow it.”  I thought I was being pretty polite considering…  But the miscreant in question took umbrage at the fact that someone would actually say no and decided to give me attitude.  I just stared at him until he walked away. 

But why on earth would I 1.)  hand my cell phone to a complete stranger; and 2.) allow a complete stranger to use an object that I have purely for my personal use and convenience (and which I pay/paid a hairy fortune for each month)?  He wasn’t on fire, giving birth, or bleeding copiously and it was a frickin’ train station, complete with pay phones.

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Midwest Chick

18 responses to “Just saying no….”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    I totally agree!La

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  2. Avatar
    Anonymous

    La–it was the attitude that got me. Just because someone asks something doesn't mean I have to comply with that request. Sheesh.

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  3. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Considering I'm the person that drank your last 3 Yeunglings I can't really comment :-)But yes. Four or five winters ago, we had a sudden and brutal ice storm. I was still driving the Jetta and going home early on a stretch of very isolated country road was difficult. There was one stretch where they'd made it two lanes per side, in anticipation of an overpass that never came, even if it ended where the money ran out, a stretch of road no one but the locals drove. Behind me was some guy in a BMW, riding my bumper, honking his horn. I was doing only 5 less than the speed limit, Speed Racer, given the conditions. Look, there was a passing lane. He finally went past, flung the finger and went ahead, only to go into the ditch up ahead.I stopped. He looked surprised. It was a very isolated area and it was very cold. I asked “are you hurt, are you alone”. He said “I'm OK, and I'm alone”. I said “do you have a cell phone?” He looked around and said “shit! NO!” I held mine up and said “Sucks to be you!”, and drove off in the cold.CAR-MA

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  4. Avatar
    Anonymous

    He was going to steal it… But you didn't play into his hands… 🙂

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  5. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Brigid–the beers were freely given and Car-Ma is indeed a bitch… ;-)NFO–yeah, I had that feeling too. Guess I looked too nice and when I didn't play it rocked his world-view a little bit.

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  6. Avatar
    Anonymous

    I'm with Old NFO – thief wannabe. Or the approach was a way to get close enough to grab something else off you.

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  7. Avatar
    Anonymous

    DirtCrasher–folks like that are one reason I hung out until my parents got on the train. My big city instincts don't also flip on, but in this case, they were working overtime.

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  8. Avatar
    Anonymous

    You did the right thing, no question in my mind.You were much more polite about it than I would have been.

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  9. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Kx–judging from Mr B, Old NFO, and DirtCrashr's opinions, I think I made the right call. There have been cases when I've been approached and haven't been quite as polite (as in, “Go the fuck away.” complete with the laser look of death), but I do try to err on the side of courtesy when possible (or within earshot of my parents).

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  10. Avatar
    Anonymous

    I totally agree!La

    Like

    Reply
  11. Avatar
    Anonymous

    La–it was the attitude that got me. Just because someone asks something doesn't mean I have to comply with that request. Sheesh.

    Like

    Reply
  12. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Considering I'm the person that drank your last 3 Yeunglings I can't really comment :-)But yes. Four or five winters ago, we had a sudden and brutal ice storm. I was still driving the Jetta and going home early on a stretch of very isolated country road was difficult. There was one stretch where they'd made it two lanes per side, in anticipation of an overpass that never came, even if it ended where the money ran out, a stretch of road no one but the locals drove. Behind me was some guy in a BMW, riding my bumper, honking his horn. I was doing only 5 less than the speed limit, Speed Racer, given the conditions. Look, there was a passing lane. He finally went past, flung the finger and went ahead, only to go into the ditch up ahead.I stopped. He looked surprised. It was a very isolated area and it was very cold. I asked “are you hurt, are you alone”. He said “I'm OK, and I'm alone”. I said “do you have a cell phone?” He looked around and said “shit! NO!” I held mine up and said “Sucks to be you!”, and drove off in the cold.CAR-MA

    Like

    Reply
  13. Avatar
    Anonymous

    He was going to steal it… But you didn't play into his hands… 🙂

    Like

    Reply
  14. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Brigid–the beers were freely given and Car-Ma is indeed a bitch… ;-)NFO–yeah, I had that feeling too. Guess I looked too nice and when I didn't play it rocked his world-view a little bit.

    Like

    Reply
  15. Avatar
    Anonymous

    I'm with Old NFO – thief wannabe. Or the approach was a way to get close enough to grab something else off you.

    Like

    Reply
  16. Avatar
    Anonymous

    DirtCrasher–folks like that are one reason I hung out until my parents got on the train. My big city instincts don't also flip on, but in this case, they were working overtime.

    Like

    Reply
  17. Avatar
    Anonymous

    You did the right thing, no question in my mind.You were much more polite about it than I would have been.

    Like

    Reply
  18. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Kx–judging from Mr B, Old NFO, and DirtCrashr's opinions, I think I made the right call. There have been cases when I've been approached and haven't been quite as polite (as in, “Go the fuck away.” complete with the laser look of death), but I do try to err on the side of courtesy when possible (or within earshot of my parents).

    Like

    Reply

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