As we tried to moor, the wind increased, causing my wife to struggle holding the bow end of the boat. So I tied my stern rope to a bollard the other side of the towpath, to enable me to assist my wife.
Boat comes first
I could see the group of seven middle aged men in Lycra (Mamils) approaching, but the boat comes first, especially in windy conditions.
As I rushed to help her, I heard one of the mamils shout , "Coming through!"
Again he shouted, "Coming through!"
As I was assisting my wife pulling in and securing the bow, I heard the mamil say to his colleagues, "God he's deaf as well."
Arrogant
Walking back to clear my rope, and secure the stern without blocking the towpath, I replied:
"I am not deaf, I just wanted to see how arrogant you were to people with disabilities. We know how your arrogance is towards boaters, yet you pay nothing to contribute to the the canals. When you learn some manners, perhaps you will understand, but I doubt it"
He replied:
"You are misinterpreting the situation."
I replied:
"No I am not, now just move on, but remember, you are not the only user of the towpath, and people like me pay to use it, who came first. The canal, towpath, boaters, then anglers, then walkers and then cyclists, you are very low on the pecking order. When you start paying to use the towpath, then you may have some rights to order people about, until then. You wait for boaters."