OK, so I didn't have to call him a moron......

Today was a glorious day. The kind of day one waits for all wet and soggy winter. The kind of day one longs for while sliding down one hill and waiting patiently (or not so patiently, see previous post) to try and get up the next hill, which has a nice fresh layer of snow that is covering a layer of ice that any hockey rink owner would be proud of. The kind of day one waits for so that you can say to Mr. Don't Bug me "See, I told you that we didn't need snow tyres" even though you are quite well aware of the fact that you were horribly wrong in insisting that snow tyres really weren't needed in this part of Canada.

So, on this gloriously clear and sunny day, we (Mr. DBM, brother S - yes, he is still here - and I) went for a walk around the local park. The views of the ocean with a backdrop of the mountains, with their sugar coating of snow, were magnificent. The dogs were content, fetching sticks for their owners, who kept dropping them. Parents were happy that they could get their kids out of the house and bike rental places around the park were happy to finally have some business. Everyone was happy with the world. But I had a problem. Everywhere I looked, people were breaking the rules. There were cyclists on the footpath and roller bladers going the wrong way. There were men running while wearing very tight lycra shorts with apparently no support underneath (there may not actually be any kind of rule against this, but there should be)! There were children feeding the squirrels and people parked where there are no parking signs. What I don't really understand is why people think that the rules don't apply to them - why do they think that they are so special that it is OK for them to do whatever they like. Now, my brother did tell me to relax a bit and to stop sounding like Victor Meldrew and he had a point - were any of these wrong doings really so bad? The men in lycra shorts - yes, but the others? It is not as if it were that crowded in the park. So relax......it's not the end of the world.

But then I saw something that I just couldn't ignore - I had to say something. A twenty something man was hucking stones at a seagull, who was just sitting on a rock, minding his own business, admiring the view, having a nap - whatever. And this guy picks up a stone and throws it at the seagull. Did I really see that? Was he really throwing a stone at the seagull? So I watch him, and he does it again. Right, that is it - I just had to say something.

"What is wrong with you, you moron. If you have to throw stones, try throwing them at your buddies and leave the poor seagull alone."

Well, it was something like that. I realise now that this was not perhaps the most diplomatic way I could have addressed the situation. But then I have never been known for diplomacy. If that is needed, Mr. DBM is bought in. I am usually saved for when all diplomatic channels have been exhausted and swearing is the only course of action left. Looking back on the incident, I am glad that I said something, but I do now think that I didn't have to call him a moron.....