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Sometimes you hate the fuckers; sometimes you are the fucker. I absolutely lost it at a basketball referee a couple of weeks ago. It was an atrocious call, one of the worst I've ever seen (I'm a referee myself). Usually you just take this as an "it happens". That day, I hadn't slept all night (insomnia), it was against my son, and I lost it. I was obnoxious and way over the top. I hate how I reacted. It wasn't really me, but I was the asshole doing it.
A month ago, I was at a fast food joint waiting to order. I wasn't paying much attention to the guy in front of me at the counter but when I looked at the young woman (20-ish) giving him his order, I saw she was crying. He snapped at her that it was about time and he didn't know why he bothered to eat at this dump where you couldn't get what you want and the service was slow and inept. I sort of snapped my head and said "then eat somewhere else asshole!" He looked at me like he was going to tear into me but thought better of it. I then told the server to ignore him, he was an asshole and she shouldn't pay any attention to him. She actually smiled, and when I was back there a week ago, she actually remembered and thanked me.
Now... two things about that. First, somebody defending a person like that shouldn't have to happen, and if/when it does happen, saying something kind shouldn't be so rare that the person remembers it for a long time (I don't eat there that often). Second, in both cases I was probably a bit of an ass myself (certainly to the referee, and possibly to the asshole who just MIGHT have had a legitimate complaint). I'll apologise to the referee next time I see him because I definitely owe him. But it sort of makes me wonder if I'm an asshole and don't recognise it.
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The secret to great marksmanship is deciding what the target was AFTER you've shot.
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