A Moment of Conflict
Behind the shop, 2019
There’s a man, an angry man, older, not from here.
He hates it when we park here — park at the back of his shop. Sometimes we sit longer than we should, waiting for our children — blocking the spaces for customers. Most of the time, we try to be quick. Five minutes max. That’s what’s been asked of us.
The man knocks at the window of a car parked next to me. At first, the woman inside ignores the man. But the man's voice becomes louder, more persistent. Suddenly, the woman opens her car door wide and pulls herself out of her seat, while screaming and pointing at the man.
She tells him no one likes him.
She tells him people only like his wife.
She tells him he’s a bitter, angry old man.
The man doesn’t listen. He continues shouting. He says he will call the police. He dials emergency services and tells his tale of the shouting woman who won’t leave his car park. As he speaks into his phone, the woman continues shouting, telling him that the car park isn’t his. It isn’t private. Anyone can park here.
The man turns away, holding his phone to his ear, asking for help.
Tension crackles between them.
All this I witnessed while waiting for my child, waiting and watching the storm raging between an angry woman and an angry man.
