About a month ago I was taking my four year old daughter to a birthday party. We parked in the parking lot next to a sedan. The car next to me had backed into its spot and so our vehicles were pointing in opposite directions. I got out and started the long process of getting my kids out of the car. I saw a woman walking toward us and thought nothing of it. I went about the task of pulling out the moby wrap and started tying it on myself. I got the baby out of his car seat and put him in the wrap, then grabbed the diaper bag, my purse and instructed my daughter on how to unbuckle herself and to remember to bring the present. We finally all got out of the car and on our way after about five minutes and I walked around the front of the car. As I turned and pointed my key fob at my car to lock it I noticed the woman I had seen earlier getting into the car next to me and I suddenly realized that she must have been standing silently behind me the whole time. I felt intolerably rude for not having noticed, and it made me wonder, when and why did we stop saying “excuse me”? Check out this article I wrote on the topic and comment if you’ve had a similar experience.