The muffin incident

Shall we start with some foreshadowing? Last week, Leah was nearly run down by an impatient driver in a Whole Foods parking lot; the driver then proceeded to scream at her. In her post, she commented “it amazes me how horrible we can treat each other just because we are strangers.”

*insert ominous music*

A few days ago, I stopped in my neigborhood co-op on my way home from work and was delighted to discover that it was gluten-free cherry almond muffin day and there were muffins remaining. (The muffin schedule varies monthly and seasonally. There’s a gluten-free muffin every day, but usually they are long gone by the time I get to the co-op. It’s been at least six months since gluten-free cherry almond muffins were on the schedule.) I carefully placed the last five muffins in a bakery bag (the muffins freeze really well).

This guy walked up to me and asked if I planned on taking all of the gluten-free muffins. Um, yes, since I just put them into the bag… He freaked out and called me a jerk, then a bitch, then an asshole, then started saying things like “You look like a nice person, but you’re obviously a nasty bitch!” WTF?! He continued stomping around and shooting me nasty glances and saying crap like that as I took my cart and walked down the next aisle. A few minutes later, I happened to look up as I was getting something out of the freezer and he was standing at the end of the aisle, flipping me off and yelling, “Bitch!!!!” I flipped him off in return, grabbed the last few things I needed, and got in a checkout line.

I was really quite freaked out by then and kept darting nervous glances around as I paid for my groceries and headed out of the store. I would not have been at all surprised if the guy had darted out, pushed me down, and taken my bag of muffins! Fortunately, that did not happen – I got in my car, drove home, froze the muffins, and sat down to write Tuesday’s list of things that make me happy. Like Leah, I had a strong urge to “accentuate the positive” and not dwell on the incident.

I’m writing about it now because I can see the utter surreality of the situation. Since the muffin incident, I have been observing people more closely, seeing how easily we lash out when angry or impatient instead of dealing with it, or excusing ourselves, or apologizing, or just being kind to the people around us. I can see where I do the same thing sometimes (although certainly not to the degree of the muffin man), and I’m resolving to be more patient and more aware of others.

Related to being aware of others and accentuating the positive, I knitted a few pieces for the Blanket of Hope that Rebekah’s putting together from some yarn I dyed last summer. Hopefully Rebekah will be able to use these for fill-in bits throughout the blanket.

Besides knitting, some other positives…

*purrrrrrrrr* -C & M

78 thoughts on “The muffin incident”

  1. That guy obviously has issues if he’s going to have a hissy fit over muffins. People in general seem to be getting crazier and crazier, inconsiderate and seem to think the world revolves around them. Positivity is definitely important! I hope you loved every last bite of your muffins!!!!

  2. Awww… I hate mean people. There’s no reason for it. You got there first, they are your muffins. Did he even ask you if you could share them? I’m sorry you had to deal with one of the mean people in the world. There are nice ones. 🙂

  3. Mean people suck. Good thing the fuzzles were there to provide extra snuggles and absorb all of that negative energy… (speaking of, they said that was really hard work, so more tuna please!)

  4. Yikes. That’s scary. I would have been tempted to ask the store manager to walk me to my car.

    And you’re right, it’s so easy to fly off the handle to a stranger. It’s happened to me and left me wondering, too, why it’s so much harder to be polite than to use all that energy being a scumbag.

  5. That’s frightening! I get treated rudely all the time, a free add-on accessory for the ear thing. But I can’t say I’ve been treated like that over an item! Yowza.

  6. That’s a crazy story, Chris! I can’t believe people like that — seriously, I would have just stood there and gaped at him. My god. Like, dude, they’re muffins. When you’re lying on your deathbed you’re not going to be shaking your bony finger in the air going, “Goddamn that woman who took the last five gluten-free muffins…GODDAMN HER!”

    It’s sad when people feel the need to unload on complete strangers like that. I’m sure his outburst had nothing to do with you or the muffins and more to do with something that was stressin’ him, like his small penis, maybe. 😉

  7. I, myself, am not exactly a light & fluffy person but that guys behaviour is extremely scary. I probably would have said something to the manager. Yikes.

  8. I’m glad you’re OK! There just seems to be this feeling of entitlement all through society over here. I see it on roads, shops, my neighbourhood, everywhere!

  9. The second time he opened up on me I would have definitely gotten the Manager of the store to deal with the guy. There is no reason for it. He probably has a mental illness or something but that doesn’t mean that you have to be his target. He should have been complaining to the store about the limited numbers they produce. You just never know what he might have done.

  10. Dude! That’s awful! I’m glad you’re OK, but I have to admit though, it’s *so* ridiculous, I had to laugh at one point. Not that it’s comical, only that’s it’s just crazy! Ugh!

    Great minds think alike! I also made some funky biased stripped squares for Rebekah as well. Yours are great!

  11. The muffin incident seems really bizarre. Sounds like somebody was off their meds.(Or Mamatulip is right. Very small wanker action.)

    Something pretty crappy just happened to friend of mine. The sad part of her story is that the person who was mean was someone she knew.

  12. That is too SCARY! I would have been terrified to leave the store alone.

    I’m sure Chaos and Mayhem helped make you feel better. What an adorable picture of them – I just love cuddly kitty pictures 🙂

  13. Oh gosh! I almost cried reading this. Sadly, I’ve had similar experiences a couple of times. It really does help to come home to sweet adoring kitties, doesn’t it?

  14. see as a former ice hockey player, this is one of those instances where having a goon with you would be great. you’d just walk to the end of the frozen food isle, tap your goon on the shoulder and let him know to police the ice on his next shift. they’d drop the gloves, your goon would most likely jersey him and it all would be good. muffin justice.

  15. Goodness! That is annoying and disturbing. Sometimes I wonder if the plugged in and disconnected nature of our lives today are causing some people to lose their minds.

  16. Yet another bozo stocking up on some REALLY bad karma! I’d like to think that I’d be snippy back, as in, “well, I’m stocking up today because somebody like you always gets them all before I get here”. Or “give me $20 and I’ll distill one so you can mainline it, oh, and I’ll just add a little thorazine for you.” Or just get really calm and say “you have no idea who you are pissing off” (as in I have over 20 years of martial arts training). But I’d probably do what you did!

  17. I’ve had a few similar experiences, although the most memorable one was at the end where the guy told me I should die – obviously crazy, but it doesn’t make you feel any less bad.

    And I thought it was just the “rich” people here that were that bad. (People seem to be very upset that everyone makes “a lot of money” here but can’t afford anything so they have to take it out on everyone else).

    I’m glad you got through it – and the squares are gorgeous!

  18. Let’s see…the terms “nutcake”..and
    “nutjob” came instantly to mind..then I thought, huh, what do I have against nuts? 😉

    What an un-nerving experience! Don’t let it ruin the enjoyment of the muffins tho, not worth it. 🙂 Lisa

  19. That is completely insane. Really, I would’ve been freaked out, too. Who knows what a guy who freaked out over muffins would *do*?

    (I’m glad your freezer is stocked with those bits of yum.)

  20. I’ve had just the opposite occur recently. Perhaps I should blog about it and give everyone a smile.

    I’ve learned that the world’s worst places for this activity are the places where monied people shop. Like Whole Foods. Although Trader Joes has always been an adventure.

  21. How scary. I was doing a return recently (a big pain for me) and the woman next to me was upset with how her return was being handled and called the customer service lady a bitch and walked out. The rep had been very patient even though the woman wasn’t. My return took the better part of 30 minutes, I had two kids with me and better things to do, but I made sure to give my sincere thanks to my rep for helping.

    I’ve also had scarier instances of impatience and rudeness (especially while driving which is really scary) and it amazes me that people can be like that. I love the show “My Name is Earl” because it is about a guy who’s done some pretty lousy stuff and is trying to make up for it. Karma. You do wonder where karma is sometimes though.

  22. Holy crap, that is just crazy!!!

    I’m always even more surprised when stuff like that happens at the Wedge, because usually most of the shoppers there are so darn nice and happy. When there is someone off their rocker I usually want to say, “Dude, go shop at Rainbow with all the other grumpy people!” (Not that everyone who shops there is grumpy, there just seems to be a higher percentage of them. I chalk it up to all the Mountain Dew and Fruit Loops)

    By the way, I just heard a new GF bakery opened up at 47th and Nicollet.

  23. What a total jerk!! I can’t believe that guy…and those must be some pretty amazing muffins. This incident kind of sounds like something that would end up on Seinfeld! People can be so rude sometimes.

  24. Wow, that’s pretty crazy! I agree with Prof. Knitwit, that totally sounds like a Seinfeld script 😉 Crazy to think that stuff actually happens in real life too!

  25. Cat Tangle! They are so cute ;o)

    Oh wow – yes that guy blew his top completely off. Maybe if he had been really nice about it – you might have given him one, if there was a reason he wanted that specific type — but WOW and YEOW, he needs to get something more in his life if lack of a muffin sucks his universe into a black hole of nastyness!

    on the other hand – you handled his childishness pretty well ;o)

  26. Wow! What a mean man. I don’t think angry people realize how unhappy they make themselves while they are trying to make other people upset. I’m glad you had your wonderful kitties to come home to!

    The blanket squares are awesome! I really like how you made them different shapes and with diagonal and orthogonal stripes.

  27. That’s just creepy! People do seem to be getting very mean and rude these days. After the second part, I would have called the police on my cell and let them come and have a little talk with him. I mean, we can’t have someone that mentally unstable loose in a retail establishment, and he just might need to be taken in for a little “rest.”
    I think he wanted to buy up the rest of those muffins, and was ticked off that you beat him to them. Maybe if he would have asked *nicely*, you might have even given him a couple of them! Geez, that would have really un-nerved me for the drive home…kinda scary…

  28. Holey moley, Chris! Sounds like that guy has some definite……issues. Reminds me of the Seinfeld epi where Jerry tackles the little ol’ woman for the last marble rye. We really don’t need to live like the people in sit-coms. What in the world are folks thinking?!?!

  29. That is bizarre. Oh Chris, I’m so glad you’re ok. The guy was nuts and it’s that sort of person who ends up as the next episode of Criminal Minds…

    If you ever see him again, RUN!

    The babies are adorable!
    (((hugs)))

  30. Chris- Unfortunately, scenes like that are all too common. I mean, how crazy is that? Over some muffins.

    I really hope nothing bad happened to him on the way home. (not)

  31. that’s insane. you should have taken one of the muffins out of the bag and taken a big bite, right in front of him! or maybe not.

    but now i have that song ‘the muffin man’ stuck in my head – thanks! 😉

  32. long pointy snowshoes are the kind made for where you live! Very cool that you made some. Oh, thought some more about bozo responses… “just take one step closer, then I can hurt you with no hard feelings!”. You can always tell the police that “he was so intimidating and threatening (this might be hard if he’s 5’4″ and you’re 5’11”) that I feared for my muffin’ lovin’ life”!

  33. Someone forgot to take his meds…

    I can’t think of any instance when I would think it’s ok to behave like that to anyone, whether they were a stranger or someone I know.

  34. Oh, and do you know Christine Lavin? Her song “Regretting what I said” would be appropriate here… “I really didn’t mean it when I said I hope the cable in the elevator snaps when you step on board. And I was joking when I said I hope you crack your head and get mangled by the downstairs revolving door” and it goes on!

  35. Ugh.. Mean stupid people make me so angry!!! There’s nothing to do with people like that either.. it wasn’t worth wasting your breath. I’m glad you bought all of the muffins.. he clearly didn’t need any more sugar for the day! (I’d have told him to consider switching to decaf too.. lol)

  36. He freaked out at you over muffins?! Really? I mean… Wow. Maybe he was having a low blood sugar day. Or maybe he has a sick muffin fetish. Ew.

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