So, yesterday, I was in the lines to load on to the 5pm ferry from Victoria to Vancouver, lane 4 to be specific. Lanes 1-4 were loading onto the Vancouver ferry. Lanes 6-9 were loading on to a different ferry. Lane 5 was empty. Several cars ahead of me, was an empty car. Despite the more the ample warning to return to your vehicle, the occupants had not. We each drove around the car and back into lane 4. Suddenly, dashing through the moving cars of lanes 6-9, across lane 5, and in front of a silver Mercedes, came a little blond kid. The silver Mercedes had to slam on it’s breaks, but didn’t come close to hitting the kid. The father, a large man with a shaved head, followed soon after, yelling at his kids and wife.
Ok, so we are loaded onto the ferry. People are starting to get out of their cars and head upstairs for the fine gourmet type snacks available on ferry boats, when all of the sudden, the large bald man comes barreling up the path. He starts shouting at the occupants of the silver Mercedes, specifically the driver, an older asian gentleman. The asian man kept asking “What are you talking about?” obviously confused. The large bald man had some kind of Eastern European accent, and it was sort of hard to understand him at times. The yelling aspect didn’t help. Something about the Mercedes guy driving fast through a parking lot, almost hitting his kid. And then he, the driver, apparently “got back into his Mercedes” like it didn’t matter. The thing is, we weren’t in a parking lot. We were in the loading lanes. Lanes full of moving traffic. Traffic that had to divert because he could not get back to his car on time. And… the driver of the Merc didn’t “get back into his Mercedes” because he never left it.
The large bald man was using the word “fuck,” and any derivatives of it, a lot. The asian men, in their dockers and button down short sleeved plaid shirts, were starting to become insulted. “Fuck you!” and “No, fuck YOU!” were bandied back and forth, until finally, the large balk man shoves the driver of the Mercedes. And that’s when the fun started. The asian men went on the offense and some general shoving and girly type slapping occurred.
Now, I got out of my car and started yelling “Fight! Fight! Fight!” I was on the side of the Mercedes. The bald guy was beyond reason, and seemed to want to fight. So, I suggested tossing him overboard. “Do you require the assistance of THE TINY FISTS OF DOOM?” But, men from the cars around me started pulling them all apart. Telling the Mercedes driver to just walk away, and a ferry employee had to physically pull the bald guy away from it. And so… the fun ended before any actual blood was shed. Sad.
As a side note, I would just like to point out, both cars were sporting Canadian plates. So… can’t blame any of it on loud, obnoxious, rude Americans. Except for any part I played. Which, was minimal at best. Because what I wrote up there? About me egging them on? Not true. The fight did happen, but I watched it from my car, with an air of bemusement.
I would have loved to see those tiny fists of doom 🙂
Do you do the Swartz bay, Tsawwassen run? I worked on the Tsawwassen Terminal one summer as a traffic splitter. It was always caos. I remember two kids being knocked down by cars in one week. The line-ups used to be miles long with waits up to eight hours (based on hourly sailings.) People could not manage to stay in-line without fighting so we had to put a number on every frickin’ car! Oh the stories I could tell. Kinda specialised Road Rage that we used to call Fairy Fever (sic).
I can honestly say that the American visitors were generally more confused about the ‘system’ but always better mannered and infinitely more polite than the locals. Albertan’s with trailers were the worst.
When I lived in Victoria, my GF lived in Vancouver so we would alternate WE travelling on the BCF’s. It is boring until you get a good storm.
BTW next time you are in Victoria, can you drive by my old house (522 Beach Drive) and see if it is still there on the side of the Hill please?
It is so nice to know that Americans (North Americans as a whole or Dubya’s plain old ‘muricans) don’t have the market cornered on being idiots.
It looks like transplanted Eastern European (always troublemakers) and Asians know how to mix it up too.
(Why is it that your common, everyday, Asian guy can’t be more like Jet Li? That would have been awesome.)
jack: you wouldn’t want to see them coming at you, that’s for sure.
perry: dang! you’ve lived everywhere. that is the exact ferry run i am referring to, yes. i’ve always loved ferrys, and enjoyed taking them. but they are losing their shine, since i’m on them all the time.
delmer: it would have been AWESOME had the mercedes driver been like jet li. even better… if the asian man’s wife had been the Landlady from Kung Fu Hustle. I would have loved to have seen her unlease the Lion’s Roar on that angry man.
I stumbled upon your blog from beth fish’s blog, then realised your name was Jodi as well, just spelt differently 🙂 Then I realised you live in Canada, very cool, i’m in Ontario 🙂 then i read your 100 things and saw you like comments, as do i..so here’s my comment 🙂 bye for now!!
It does take two to tango and morons seem to come out of the woodwork. A parent who reacts like the idiot you saw is probably not a good influence on their children. Baldy needs to chill out and teach his kid not to run in traffic. I get really scared when I see someone who is a parent that acts like a total jackass. Hopefully the kids will not act their parents.