Taking the high road

So I met up with a situation yesterday that I've imagined and dreaded happening: I ran into someone that is pretty high up there on my Most-Disliked Persons list. I've always said that if I happened to run into this person, I would give them the "cut direct" (as they say in my Regency romance novels), I would put my nose in the air and turn away. Or, in my imaginings, I'd give them what for, tell that person just what a bitch I think she is, and why. I'm too nice of a person (or else too much of a chicken shit, haha) to do that though, so I've always just assumed I would do the snubbing thing.

Well, I saw this person in Walmart, when I was going down one of the aisles with the kids. I immediately pretended I hadn't saw her and continued on, hoping that she didn't see me. I lucked out, and for the rest of the shopping trip there was no sign of her. Phew! But of course, with my luck, just when I was loading the bags into the back of the Durango I heard, "Beau?" Ahhh, crap. I turned around and just stared at her for a moment. This was it, the moment of truth.

(Just a little background info: this person has never done anything to me, per se, but to someone I deeply love and feel protective of, and so my dislike has always been on behalf of that person, and because some of the things this woman has done are truly horrible. But there's some history with this person, as well; until she became a mean witch she was actually considered a friend of the family. And up until she became a psycho, I'd always gotten along with her and enjoyed visiting with her. But blood is thicker than water, and NO ONE hurts someone I love.)

So there I was, confronted with the situation I'd always dreaded, and you know what? In that moment, when all these things I wanted to say were rushing through my mind, I heard my mom's voice, like she was whispering in my ear, "Take the high road. Don't sink down to her level, don't become what she is. Stay classy." (just like Ron Burgundy! lol)

And so I turned to her and said, "Oh hi! I didn't recognize you for a second there. How are you doing?" She oohed and ahhed over Ryder, who was still in the cart, exclaiming that she couldn't believe how big he is now. I asked about her grandbabies, and if her daughter was with her on this shopping trip (I knew darn well she was, I saw them both there). We chit-chatted for another minute, then went our separate ways.

I felt good knowing that she'd picked up on the fact that, while I was 'nice' and pleasant to her, there were definite undercurrents there, things being unspoken. She could tell that I was more reserved with her than I used to be, and I'm sure she knew the reasons why. But I did it folks, I took the high road. It would have been so easy to ignore her, or give her a mean glare, but I resisted the temptation and "stayed classy". And when she went home that day, I hope she realized that and it maybe made her take a closer look at her own behaviour and the things she's chosen to do, and say. I hope she choked on her feelings of shame and embarrassment.

And if not, at least I know that I am the better person, that in taking the high road I stayed true to who I am as a person. I know that if I would have starting ranting at her, I always would've looked back on that and thought that I could've handled that situation better; that in doing that, my behaviour was no better than hers. So there was a real lesson there that I learned: stay classy.