Arrogance on the Charles

As they approach the dock I can kind of tell that the captain, or acting captain of the vessel, is not the sharpest sailor on the sea. He misses his approach and is forced to place the vessel in reverse(missing the 30 feet of dock before him). It was not a terribly embarrassing moment- though you would never be able to tell from the apparent"spouse's" reaction towards me. Crewed with three people I thought for sure that they would have someone among them, who could safely and efficiently dock. Nada uno.

It was another exceptional Summer afternoon. Sailboats were perusing about the Charles River here in Boston, genuinely good spirited people walking, running, and cycling up and down the river-way and... hey what the heck is that motor boat doing pulling right in front of me while I am sitting here trying to relax and enjoy the view @#?!

That's right, according to the Flood Control and Navigational Operations Division, boats are allowed to tie up at the docks along the Charles for a maximum of :20 minutes at any given time. So if you are opposed to big burly motor boats tying up at the Charles dock side, you're good fortune has run out. So let's talk etiquette. And if this article seems somewhat sardonic, it’s not really, just a disappointing experience to see some things never change.

So I am sitting on the dock beyond the Aurthur Fielder monument. This dock is between sixty and eighty feet in length. Having ridden my bike there solely for the purpose of decompressing from the day(as I do nearly every day during the Summer) I see a small to medium size power boat heading towards me. My initial reaction was simply unfortunate that a motorized boat is pulling up on such a relaxing evening, but hey, it's a dock(i.e. people and boats are welcome); right?

As they approach the dock I can kind of tell that the captain, or acting captain of the vessel, is not the sharpest sailor on the sea. He misses his approach and is forced to place the vessel in reverse(missing the 30 feet of dock before him). It was not a terribly embarrassing moment- though you would never be able to tell from the apparent"spouse's" reaction towards me. Crewed with three people I thought for sure that they would have someone among them, who could safely and efficiently dock. Nada uno.

As he overshot his approach, pullingdirectly in front of me, the spouse exclaims, "you could have helped." She did not confront her husband for overshooting; she did not even extend any sense of kindness, like perhaps(as is traditionally expressed) "would you mind tying us off"? She confronted a complete stranger.

I was befuddled and aghast by the effrontery of her remark. Clearly a demonstration of her arrogance and immaturity. How old was she; banking late 60's easily- old enough to know better. And nothing against middle aged and elder people, I'm not too far removed myself. That being said, ponder the word arrogance for just a moment. My guess is it was her attitude that made her look that old. Ugliness has a way of manifesting itself in people in different ways.

If I were to take a stab at how her past negatively affected who she is an insecure woman who led a privileged life and believes she is entitled to have everyone serve her; I would say she married or was born into money; controls her husband and was given pretty much anything she wanted by daddy(who by the way appeared to be on the vessel as well); or perhaps she rarely got to exercise her power so took advantage of vulnerable situations to compensate what she was not able to do in the past. Cosmopolitan she was not, antediluvian better describes her behavior- detached from concepts such as relationship building or social equity.

Now I would not have made such a stink of this had she simply extended the proper courtesy. And before anyone jumps on the band wagon, I am a sailor myself(28 foot sailer)and I always demonstrate good manners when in need of assistance- it is really that simple. And it was that simple

Needless to say, I ended up lending a hand so they could dock because I decided it was better to take the high road, or in this case, the high sea. The captain thanked me and I shifted my seating so the boat would not obstruct my view to much.

I believe they departed within the twenty minutes, and well, I still got to see a fantastic sunset.