Dang it.
I just flipped a driver off on my way to work. It was a full-on, rotate my body, get eye contact and bird-flipping second.
That hasn't happened for over a year. I really try to keep it cool. I expect people to do the wrong thing so I'm always able to let stuff roll off. But this morning an aggro driver got the best of me.
By the way he beat a gap and cut off another car to pass me, only to end up behind a left-turning driver -- I knew -- I KNEW -- he was going to pull out in front of me. The John-I-want-to-be should've just backed off a bit, slowed, and let the guy be on his way.
But the real John held his line, only to swerve by the inevitable cut-off. And in doing so was justifiably pissed off and most importantly, deeply wronged. Ugh.
So I added a bird to this already angry world. Of course, he caught up, passed me and gave me a solid middle finger complete with rage-filled eyes.
My bad.
Dude in the convertible Saab: I'm sorry. We were both suck-ass drivers this morning, but I really do hope your day gets better.
Amen. Flipping the bird to drivers in Japan doesn't mean anything to them. I've tried.
ReplyDeleteYou angry and reckless = inconvenience, Saab dood angry and reckless = safety hazard. I get what your getting at about flipping him off not doing any good, but no matter how bad his day was, it ain't okay to drive like that.
ReplyDeleteYou have a cooler head than some of my friends though--some of them would have sent a U-lock hurdling into his passenger door; yikes.
Saab is a Swedish word meaning "s.o.b."
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ReplyDeleteThat happens once in a while. It doesn't feel good but there are times we just can't stop ourselves.
ReplyDeleteEveryone survived unscathed. Nothing bad about that.
I had to delete my previous to correct some spelling. I spelled "it" incorrectly. {{{{sigh}}}}
Dropping the vid in was genius. It took Danny about 12 seconds to chase away the gross mean-people black-cloud dwell thing I had going on in my head after reading about your exchange. The remaining 5:26 was frosting.
ReplyDeleteIn cold weather I'm wearing my lobster claw gloves, which means I can only flip someone the Vulcan peace sign. Not at all the same effect, but good for civility.
ReplyDeleteSome additional driver response options in a graphic I posted on my blog may give you a chuckle: http://bikestylespokane.com/2012/02/07/miss-manners-would-approve-dealing-with-drivers/