Attitudes rarely change. Recently I happened to be in Fgura, which on normal days is traffic-stricken. You might thus imagine the dire situation of finding a vacant parking slot. The arduous task proved to be as difficult as a modern quest to find the Holy Grail.

After turning around the same four roads thrice over, we managed to spot a free parking spot for blue card holders. Being holders of such a card, my husband parked there. No sooner had he killed the engine, a man emerged from the house in front and started bellowing about the slot pertaining to his brother who is unable to walk.

My husband explained that we do have a blue card and thanked him for reminding him to expose it on our dashboard.

The injured man’s temper though, did not abate so easily. He started by describing the unhappy plight of his brother who due to our selfishness was going to have to park miles away from home and would surely end up jgħannaq l-arblu, povru ħija! (embracing the pole, my poor brother!) in order to rest along the walk. His discourse became louder and more floral towards the end.

He was also indecent enough to say that our daughter is not as unlucky as his sibling since at least, she is capable of walking.

Patiently, I did my best to draw his attention to the fact that no disability can be compared to another, let alone be depicted as better off or worse. I also stressed the fact that the previously vacant slot had had his brother’s vehicle registration number omitted so that all European citizens bearing a blue card would be able to benefit from it.

I have a dream: that one day everybody starts minding his own business

I even admonished him for being foulmouthed in front of children. Sadly, he must be so used to insulting God and his people that he did not even heed me.

When he realised that we had not been discouraged from occupying the said slot, he even threatened to vandalise our vehicle during our absence to which my husband promptly replied that were he to find some damage, he would immediately report him to the police.

The man had no other choice but to leave and we were free to proceed with our errands. After three quarters of an hour, we emerged from an outlet and to no surprise of ours, no longer was there one pair of eyes scrutinising us but two!

Happy to note that the brother in question had not returned home even though according to his sibling, he was due back in minutes, we were verbally attacked by the ‘victim’s’ ageing mother.

It was her turn now to condemn our misdeed at having ‘taken away’ her son’s slot in his absence so that according to her narrowmindedness, we would satisfy our selfishness and lack of empathy. Furious at not being heeded, she resorted to her son’s earlier decorative language.

At that point, I realised that her ‘adult’ son who had reacted worse than an infant must have inherited this language since he was in his diapers. After wishing her a happy new year which she fired back with a grimace and yet another insult, we continued with our evening while she remained on the look-out for the next unhappy victim who might venture the perilous undercurrents washing the vacant slot in front of her home.

I would rather not hear of fortunate or less fortunate beings let alone having my precious daughter’s condition depicted as luckier or unhappier than another man’s plight.

I have a dream: that one day everybody starts minding his own business and let his neighbours lead a happier and more blissful life.

Lorraine Spiteri is a teacher.