Dear editor,聽
I went to Super A to do the grocery shopping for my family. Unfortunately I am someone who suffers from anxiety, but as the youngest person in my household I feel that pushing through to reduce the risk to my parents is the right thing to do.
The store was quite busy and I was doing my best to give people as much room as possible, sometimes more than the required six feet if I could.
There was a gentleman in the store who I felt wasn't giving everyone the minimum space required as he walked around the store, but I took it upon myself to be the one to distance.
Once I was done I was waiting in line, and he cut in front of me, possibly because I was giving so much space that he didn't realize I was in line. Which is fine, I spoke up and told him I was waiting and he walked past me to wait behind me.
When he was behind me, he was inching more and more forward. I held my hand up and said, "Could you stop there, I would like to have some space.鈥�
He responded by saying "I'm six feet away, look, bam", emphasizing the bam by tapping his cane on the ground.
I said nothing. I was trying to not have a panic attack in the middle of the aisle.
When I didn't respond he started muttering rudely in French and I found myself apologizing to him, even though I didn鈥檛 have to.
"Sorry, this is a stressful time, and I'm trying to be as polite as I can,鈥� I said.
That was the end of the exchange.
I was born and raised in this town, and I thought that during a time of crisis we would all band together, trying to be as helpful and understanding as possible.
Behaviour and attitudes such as that are not going to help anybody during this extremely stressful situation, anxiety or not.
People should be able to ask others to stay away from them without worrying about someone responding rudely or making them feel bad about it.
Yes, the minimum amount of space is six feet, but some people want or need more to feel safe, and I truly feel they should have the right to ask for it.
I know there are others out there that feel the same way as me, and I think people should know that even though we are a small town, not everyone's behaviour is acceptable or helpful.聽
People should not be afraid to tell people to stay away, or have their anxieties about everything going on made worse because of one inconsiderate person.聽聽
My hope is by making my experiences public, maybe people will think twice about saying something rude in response to a fair request.
Sidney Gittens
Jasper, AB
