Out in the world today, I encountered the rude behavior of a number of people, and it's making me just want to be a hermit. But I can't do that. Now that we're back from vacation and I've obtained my driver's license, my husband is counting on me to get a job so I can help him with the bills. Even a part-time job at minimum wage would do the trick. I don't have to equal his earning power.

But I just don't want to deal with people.

When somebody acts like a creep, whether it's childhood bullying or some loudmouthed obnoxious drunk at a bus stop, I've heard the advice to "just ignore it" all my life. "Oh, don't let it get you down. It's their problem, not yours. Just don't pay any attention to them." Analogies and figures of speech come in from all over. "Let it go in one ear, and out the other." "Be like a duck, and let it roll off your back." "Tell yourself, I'm rubber and he's glue." And then there's the title of the thread. Blinders are put on horses so they don't spook. I'm told, "Act like you're a horse, and you have your blinders on."

OK, so HOW do I do that? If I don't want to see something, I can close my eyes, but if I don't want to hear something, my ears won't close. And, you can't go through life with your eyes closed all the time. You could hurt yourself that way, especially if you're driving. Today was our first full day back home. Naturally we had errands to run, such as going to the post office to resume mail service, and grocery shopping. The afternoon started going downhill while my husband and I were sitting at a red light. For the record, he was driving. I'm still new to it, and when we go out together, it's usually him behind the wheel. Well, as we were waiting for the light to change, a young kid in a teensy little t-top sports car suddenly wedged himself crossways between us and the car in front of us. In a bigger vehicle, he couldn't have done that, but his car was small enough. He wanted to get to the gas station on the other side of us, and he had been in the wrong lane for turning in to it. If he had signaled and asked, we would gladly have given him the space and let him over, but he wedged in without asking. So there he is, horizontal across the lane. Then came the kicker. When he succeeded in getting across to the gas station and pulled up next to the pump, the light had not changed yet. He really hadn't caused us any actual delay. Yet at that point he felt compelled to reach up through his t-top and flip us a middle finger.

Why do people have to be like that? It really makes me not want to live on this planet anymore. (That's an internet meme, not a suicide threat.)

When we got to the grocery store, I'd had a strenuous last few days and was in serious need of using a motor cart. On a good day I can walk around in the store, with a cane. This was not a good day. Well, halfway through the shopping trip, the battery conked out. I had just enough juice to get it to the front of the store, where one last available motor cart was left. As I was plugging in the one that wasn't working anymore, a couple came in. The man was using a cane himself, but it was the woman, who didn't use any devices, who started to get on that last cart. I know better than to jump to conclusions, even though she looked young and healthy and was walking better than either of us. Not all disabilities are visible. But that wasn't the point. All I was thinking was, I am hurting, and I can't do this walking, and that was the last cart, and she just took it out from under me. I then informed her that I was trading this cart in because it had died, and was about to get on that one when she stepped in front of me. She willingly let me use the cart, but I felt snarky and ugly and guilty. They seemed like a nice couple, actually, which made me feel worse for saying anything.

Then when I went to rejoin my husband and found where he was, a group of people all together (some on motor carts or in their own wheelchairs, and several others standing among them) had the entire aisle barricaded, and I couldn't get through. After waiting a few minutes for somebody to move aside and let me pass, when nobody did I had to back up and circle around from another aisle to catch up with my husband. After snapping at that other couple, I didn't feel right speaking up again. There is a fine line between asserting yourself and being a selfish old bat.

Getting a job will entail being out in the world daily among people who will be rude and act like I don't exist, either purposefully like that punk in the t-top, accidentally like that nice couple, or completely unawares like that group blocking the aisle. The only way to keep from being totally destroyed by it is to "put my blinders on" and "don't let it get to me."

So somebody please tell me how to do that?