Mr. Grumpy

Mr. Grumpy

It's Thursday. It's sunny. And we're on Orcas Island. As always, our favorite place to be. So why the grumpy face?

Well, we were headed to the ferry at Anacortes, with Lori at the wheel and me riding shotgun. As we went down the hill toward the ferry landing, we could see a line of cars in the right-hand lane and an open path in the left-hand lane. Naturally, I suggested to Lori she switch lanes and move into the free lane. Naturally, it turned out to be bad advice -- because the right lane was designated as the "ferry lane," from which to approach the tolling booths.

You know how some people are "early mergers"? And others, like me, are "late mergers"? It's not a problem when I'm in my VW bug. But it became a problem in Lori's Land Rover. No one would let us in. Most drivers stared straight ahead as they cruised past; a few others glared.

But one guy in a red pickup truck rolled down his window, yelled some profanities and then actually opened the door, got out and made a show of jotting down our license plate.

"You can't cut in. Don't you know that's illegal?" he shouted. "I oughta report you to the sheriff!"

Seriously.

Fortunately, a kind lady let us in and we made it on to the ferry as scheduled. But not without further incident.

After we'd pulled into the appropriate lane to await boarding, we parked our car and took a sack lunch to go eat at a picnic bench away from the crowd. Sure enough, Mr. Grumpy decided to pay us another visit.

"Are you an Oregon Duck?" he asked, looking as though he'd just swallowed broken glass.

"Yes," I answered. 

"That figures. I hate Oregon Ducks. You tourists just piss me off."

And he went on to lecture us again about trying to cut into line.

I told him, hey, we'd never run into that situation before. Every time we've come previously, it's been a straight shot to the pay booth -- no long lines ever. Besides, we already admitted our error.

He cursed some more, then finally walked away, shaking his head and muttering about "goddamn tourists."

Fortunately, as I write this, he's become nothing more than an amusing anecdote. Already, we've had some fun and met some nice people and discovered a new restaurant.

More to come in the days ahead...

Photo: http://www.fotosearch.com/CSP044/k0447799/