It’s getting crazy out there.

‘Tis the season for oblivious drivers, mindless wanderers, rogue shopping carts and grabby people.

I was buying tea yesterday. Tea — something that evokes images of quiet and calm, peace and warmth. After studying the display long and hard, my hand was almost upon a particular box, until said box was plucked from in front of me by a speeding shopper. I shouldn’t have been surprised at what transpired, as she practically laid rubber coming around the corner. My hand was wavering between the Sleepytime and the Country Peach Passion when the former was swiped from the shelf.

“Excuse you,” the tea-pilferer said before she continued on her way.

I was so shocked at her crabbiness that I laughed, which she didn’t appreciate. She clearly needed the Sleepytime more than yours truly.

The parking lot was another interesting scene. A man’s shopping cart grew a mind of its own and wandered off down the aisle as he was yelling at his child. Then a driver backed into it, sending the cart and its contents tipping over. The man yelled at his kid some more. Fantastic.

I sat in my car for about a minute and let it run while I found my happy place. I backed out, motored toward the exit and was met — fortunately not literally — by a teenager who had emerged from between two cars. Out he wandered in front of me, his head down and focused on his phone the whole time. He kept walking, never looking up, and I waited.

I’ve never been so happy to get home. And this shopping trip was after the accident I’d witnessed on my way home earlier that evening. Whew.

Tonight I am thankful for those crazy people who come out of the woodwork during the most hectic time of the year, because they are to our awareness what a sharpener is to a pencil. When before we may have been dull, we emerge sharp and focused after being in their presence — sometimes a bit worn around the edges, but focused all the same.

Stay safe, friends.