Mike Puru: I'm torn between being a grumpy old person and letting things go

Why an Earth did I, all of a sudden, think that I was the Ponsonby Rd speed monitor? Photo / Sylive Whinray

Opinion

COMMENT

I'm not sure how it happened but recently I've found myself rolling my eyes at everyday situations that seem to bug me. You know, those situations where you just can't understand why humans behave the way they do.

In fact I've been on both sides of these strange collisions of living a basic life and being responsible. Let me give you some examples.

Just the other day I was crossing a famous, but busy, Auckland road, one that runs through art studios, boutique shops and eateries. It's the type of road that's always busy with people shopping or eating, the sort of road where the speed limit is reduced to avoid a major disaster. Waiting to cross the road, a car hoofed past doing about 15km more than the speed limit and I found myself yelling, "slow down it's 40km ya bloody idiot!"

Why on Earth did I, all of a sudden, think that I was the Ponsonby Rd speed monitor? I couldn't help but run that question through my head as I carried on with my day. I started thinking about all the times I wanted to say something to people who just didn't follow the rules of society.

That lingering look you give people when their prized pooch poos in public, only to move on silently when they pull out the poo bag.

There's the time I saw a guy who finished his drink while sitting on a park bench walk away leaving the empty bottle sitting there like a trophy of his non-conformity. Did I say anything to him? No, I just swooped up the bottle and put it in the bin myself.

Have I finally reached that point where my silent disapproval will now be vocal outburst? Or am I better to just keep my mouth shut to avoid confrontation. It seems easier and more peaceful to do the latter.

Being on the other side of this is even stranger; when someone tells you off in public it's quite an awkward exchange.

A few years back my lovely great-aunt was staying with me and she had a mobility parking permit.

Once, at a clinic, I dropped Aunty off and returned an hour later to pick her up. I parked in the space and skipped into the clinic to see if she was ready for the lift home but I noticed a member of the public was checking the permit.

Clearly being able to walk with ease prompted an investigation. But to avoid that situation the next time, if I was picking Aunty up I would pretend to limp to deter the public parking monitor from having to question my eligibility.

Another time I was told off for not walking on the left of a footpath by a lady who clearly deemed she was the footpath police.

And just recently, as I walked my dog down the aforementioned road, I was scowled at by another lady who said "Really? Right there?" as my dog cocked his leg for a wee on a post holding up a veranda. I saw her point, but a post is a post to a dog.

So where do you sit? Do you just roll your eyes and silently carry on with your day, grumbling to your self? Or should we be more vocal? Should we care more and enforce our ideal world?

Therein lies the collision between being a good citizen who sticks to the left-hand side of the footpath and obeys the dogs-on-a-beach times, and being a citizen who just minds their own business and hopes people do the same.

Maybe I'm just a rules type of guy. But then again, there are bigger fish to fry in this post-Covid world. Maybe I should direct the grumblings of my everyday life to a greater cause. Or maybe I just carry on picking up drink bottles left on park benches and telling people to slow down because maybe it does make a difference.

I'm torn between being a grumpy old person and just letting life's little things go.

One thing I can definitely decide on is a face mask lying on the road, abandoned like an autumn leaf flapping in the gutter — I would never pick it up and put it in a bin, I just can't. That's me being responsible to myself. But I bet it's still lying there in a week's time.