Hard of Hearing?

They're a bloody scourge on our streets. No, not cyclists, (although they are a bloody menace as well). I'm talking about those idiots who wander around with earphones in, listening to their bloody iPods (or other generic MP3 players). They really get on my wick, wandering around, oblivious to every thing going on around them, stepping in front of cars, holding up queues and generally being tossers. People with mobile phones clamped to their ears are almost as bad. These latter specimens especially annoy me when they persist on talking on their phone whilst they are being served in a shop - it really is the height of rudeness. No, really. It is. It shows an utter contempt for the person serving you if you treat them as if they aren't there by carrying on a phone conversation rather than give them your attention. It also shows contempt for other shoppers, as attempting to pack your shopping bags single handed holds up the whole queue at the tills.

But I'm straying from the point - let's get back to those bastards with the earphones. Like I said, they are a menace. Accidents just waiting to happen. Just this morning I found myself impeded by one of them as I attempted to exit the car park where my car lives overnight. Before I go on, I should explain that the car park is sub-divided into two main sections, with a pedestrian walkway as the divider. There are only two places where you can cross this walkway in a car. Unfortunately, in order to get to the main road every morning, I have to use one of these crossings. Now, if there's someone walking down the pedestrianised area, I have no problem in giving them right of way and letting them pass. But do the buggers actually use this route to cross the car park on foot? No the bloody well don't. They just wander across it willy-nilly, usually glaring angrily at motorists who have the audacity to try and move their cars into or out of parking spaces as they walk in front of, or behind them, as they manoeuvre.

Anyway, getting to the point, there I was this morning, negotiating the crossing point, when this bloody girl, wearing a tight skirt and with earphones plugged in, wanders in front of me, apparently unaware of my car's presence, forcing me to brake, then attempt to get around her as she meandered toward the crossing point, (she'd decided to cut across the side of the car park I was entering on my way to the exit, then join the pedestrian walkway halfway down, instead of using it properly). She still didn't seem to be aware of the nuisance she was causing even as she walked past me. I was sorely tempted to wind down the window and shout "You're a bloody menace - and yes, that skirt you are wearing does make your bum look big!" But I just couldn't be bothered.