Yesterday I had to go to the VA hospital. Since I'm a vet, I get all my meds and treatments there and all my caretakers are there. Several vans take vets to the differant facilities and my ride is about seventy miles. I had a driver two weeks ago yesterday that was very grouchy and mean and seemed to dislike me from the beginning. His left hand was heavily bandaged and I asked him how he had hurt it. He said cancer and he had just had a big growth removed and that it hurt like hell.

So I thought, okay, he's in a lot of pain and that's why he comes off as being so mean. I didn't think anymore of it until yesterday when I had to ride with him again. He acted like he hated me. The doors to the van are big and heavy and the driver always opens the door for you and helps you into and out of the van. I was standing in front of the passenger side door and a sweet elderly man was standing by the side door and we were waiting for him to help us. But he simply got into the driver's seat and ignored us! He continued to ignore us as we both struggled to get into the van, which has very high steps.

You always have to wait at the hospital for everyone to get their appointments done and it was a long day. On the way back I sat in the back to get away from him. I had mentioned to another one of the riders that I thought what he did was rude and he narcked on me.

When we reached our designated drop off, he came around to the side doors and flung them open and said, "I don't want anyone accusing me of being rude!" Then he approached me and told me he thought I would be better off with another driver and that he only drove on Mondays. I tried to ask him why he was so rude to me, he just got in the van and drove off.

I had several options at that point, one being to call and complain about him. But since I really need to use that van, it seemed wise not to cause any trouble. Another option I will use is to take his suggestion and not make anymore appointments on Monday. I was a little upset for about an hour and then I just let it go. I never did figure out what his problem with me was. Some vets don't like women vet's. Maybe he had been married to a redhead at one time and just didn't like redheads.

The point is that I think I handled it well. Some people take an instant dislike to you for whatever reason. Some people are just plain freaking mean. So I didn't put any blame on myself, or worry about it, as I would have in the past. I know that I didn't do anything wrong and after this post, I will probably not even think about it much. And if I do have an opinion, I will just keep it to myself. Not everyone is always going to like you, I guess, but that's okay. I like myself and my friends like me and that's all that really matters.