Karma Police

Today, I went to the Salvation Army and bought a hot pink sweater with penguins on it. It's become kind of a seasonal trend. Every fall, when the leaves begin to change, I go to a thrift store and spend two to five dollars on a stupid, dated sweater.

I was in the process of checking out, when a woman exiting the store dropped one of her bags. A glass soap dish fell from the bag and shattered on the floor. I was standing close by, and saw no one else move to help her, so I stooped to pick up the pieces. The woman stood over me and watched. She then turned on her heels and exited the store.

I handed the broken glass to the cashier and apologized (for what, I don't know). I was peeved at the lack of thanks, but assumed the woman was stressed/having a bad day/in a hurry. When I left the store, the woman was standing outside screaming at the top of her lungs. She was addressing an elderly woman who appeared to be her mother.

"Fucking idiot," she fumed. "Fucking idiot can't even wrap a fucking soap dish."
"Why don't you ask for a refund?" asked the elderly woman.
"I'm not going to ask for a fucking refund. Nobody can do a god damn thing right in this fucking town. Isn't this just a dandy fucking day?"

I passed by silently and slipped into my car. For a minute, I considered stopping this woman in the parking lot. I wanted to grab her shoulders, shake her, and tell her to get a grip. I wanted to scream back - "Look around you! Look at all of these people! You only have to glance over your shoulder to see imbalance and struggle. Pull yourself together, get back in your car, and contribute something worthwhile to this godforsaken world!"

Fortunately (or unfortunately), I vetoed the confrontation. If I'm going to get arrested, it won't be for a brawl in a thrift store parking lot. On the drive home, I turned on Radiohead and put Karma Police on repeat. When I arrived home, I went straight to my computer and put Karma Police on repeat. As I type, I'm still listening to Karma Police. I'm not in the mood for Karma Chameleon, and it was the only other karma song I could think of.