door jam

I smacked a couple of people around today. With a door.

I don't feel badly about this at all and here's why. Tourists, especially those that loiter around various parts of Midtown are mentally vacant. They stand wherever, whenever and just sort of gape their mouths and block whatever is going on; foot traffic, doors, actual traffic....it's annoying, as has been previously discussed at length.

I understand this about the tourists, and don't really blame them too much for being mentally checked out; it is, after all, vacation for them. What I don't understand and had a problem with today, is the ignoring of many attempts to get their attention to move out of the way.

So there I was, standing inside an establishment, trying to get out through the only doorway, with three people blocking my exit. The door opened out toward the street, so I didn't have a lot of options, other than to somehow make them aware of my presence and desire to leave through said doorway. Despite standing pretty much against the door, I was unacknowledged. I waved, I waved some more, I knocked on the door. Nothing. Not even a head tilt in my direction, despite the fact that one of the three was practically looking right at me. My hands were clearly tied.

I started to open the door gently at first, attempting to brush them back so I could get out. Nothing. These bumps on a log were really just going to stand there as if I didn't exist and wiat for me to fly out the ceiling. Finally, I slammed the door open, causing two of the bumps to fly into the third. And how they flew - arms flailing out, tripping over their feet, catching one another in a mangled, bent-over heap.

I heard huffs and gasps and was shot the dirtiest looks they could all have mustered, given their catatonic states before. I turned, I smiled brightly and said "move, please." They're lucky.....I'm one of the patient ones.