Even in the most ordinary life there are occasions where one can do something at least sort of heroic.
Before the company I worked for went to direct deposit, I was in the habit of going to a local bank branch to cash my paycheck, after which I'd treat myself to a takeout lunch instead of my usual brown bag. It was usually a cheerful and welcoming place, but on one particular day I felt a distinct chill when I walked in. As I handed the check and the deposit slip to one of the tellers, I discovered the cause. The only other customer there, a large and loud woman at the far end of the tellers, was loudly berating, insulting and abusing the teller over some banking problem. She had her back to me as she went on, throwing in a hypothetical question about about if her best friend's child-care provider had a similar problem...
The teller she was so loudly abusing was a sweet older lady who had never been anything other than friendly and helpful to me. Now she was visibly shaken, her hands trembling as she tried to complete her tormenter's transaction.
Normally, the branch manager would have intervened, but at this time on this day she had gone to lunch, so that large and loud could run wild and free and nasty.
My own transaction was completed quickly, and I was free to leave.
Except that I couldn't.
'Excuse me!', I said, loudly enough for L&L to hear me over the sound of her own diatribe. She whirled on me immediately, glaring angrily. Have you ever heard the saying that beauty is only skin deep, but real ugly goes all the way to the bone? Well, it applied to this woman.
I suggested to her that if she had some problem with the bank she should take it up with the branch manager, not pick on the poor teller. As reasonable as such advice was, L%L was having none of it, and she began to unleash her considerable wrath on me. As she did, I saw the abused teller finally complete the transaction and flee to the calm and safety of a back room.
'And anyway,' L%L finished with a sneer. 'You don't know what you're talkin' about!'
I couldn't help smiling at the perfect opening she had given to me. 'That may be,' I said. "But I know what I'm lookin' at.'
With that, I turned and left the bank. Behind me I could hear the unpleasant woman sputtering angrily, and a barely suppressed snicker from one of the other tellers.