Why did I starve him that morning?

by Mohan M Prasad
(India)

This guy was driving into the parking bay and one look at him said it all. He was deeply affected by the 'wrong side of the bed' syndrome.

Even as he scouted for a parking slot, he picked an argument with the parking attendant and finally when he was forced to reverse the car, the abrupt speed by which he reversed almost crashed into us.

My friend had not really been observing this guy and when this happened he almost wanted to bang the car and take him on. I helped him resist his temptation to let loose his temper.

"Just hold on, he is in a foul mood and just wants some flare up situation to let steam off, and showing your temper will be just the fodder he is scouting and hungry for."

My friend held himself back and now both of us for some unexplainable reasons were staring and observing him; mostly with curiosity but also perhaps because we had a bit of luxury of time.

Yes, there was another 10 minutes to go for the start of the session we were to attend.

What we saw in the next few moments was something that I keep reflecting and exploring even today, almost a week after the incident.

This guy finally managed to get the car parked and in a flash, opened his car door only to smash the door of another car.

As expected the flare up happened with the other driver and after a few exchanges of foul language, our guy got badly beaten up.

We could see the blood oozing from the corner of his mouth as he flopped near his car to recover from the quick-fire punches all over his face.
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Well, somewhere I felt responsible for the driver getting beaten up!?!

I thought, if only I had let my friend, or for that matter me, help him let off some steam. Maybe then he would have poured out his early morning frustrations on us, and knowing and being aware of his state of mind, I would have not let the situation get out of hand.

Perhaps I could have helped him download and feel somewhat evened out, and maybe even help him to feel good!

Maybe he would have been in a better frame while opening the door and could have avoided the rash rush of blood and the gush from his mouth.

I felt bad that I starved him from letting off steaming and felt awful that someone fed him just the fodder.

This will remain an opened ended question for a long time in my mind.

Mohan M Prasad