So three days ago this guy roadrages on me. I provoked him, and I'm not really worried about it. What gets me is, three days later, and I stilled haven't fully grokked my own role in the activity. So here's the story, before we get to what bugs me about it.
I'm passing a tan Saturn fourdoor, Enterprise rental car with some guy talkin on his phone on his left ear and his arm and hand blocking his view out the left side of his car. He starts drifting into me, runs me half off the road, and then, when he realizes his predicament, simply drifts back into the righthand lane, not even acknowledging to me that he had nearly killed me. So I did the reasonable thing, and I flicked him off. More accurately, I pulled in front of him, held a perfectly formed bird in his sight, and changed lanes whenever he did so that he couldn't avoid seeing my middle finger. He's still talking on the phone when I see his face shift from a pale caucasian color to redder than a Native American in a 50's Disney Movie. He doesn't press a button on the phone, or even move it away from his face as he begins shouting what can only be profanity. He's wearing a blue shirt, a tie that's wide enough to really show off the V in it, woven from two colors to make it look like one of those color shifting cars, and I can't help but guessing that he was on a business call when I finally broke him, and that was more than anything my revenge for being run off the road.
Eventually, as he's chasing me down the Riverchase Parkway, I make a stupid move, an attempt at a blind U-Turn that means I nearly hit an on coming car, and the gentleman in the Saturn has a chance to block me in. I go into reverse, and as I'm reversing, dude jumps out of his car, cell phone in his right hand now, and runs towards my car. I go into drive and swing around his car, and as I'm passing he throws his cell phone into the side of my car.
He caught up with me at the next light, and chased me for a little while until I managed to take a right turn into a parking lot from the left lane, which was immediately occupied by a lawnmowing service truck, as accorcing to plan.
So that's what happened, and overall I did okay, but not nearly as well as previous times I've provoked roadrage from deserving fellow drivers. Here's some of the main things that bother me:
- I started a fight on an empty tank of gas. I'm perfectly happy with getting on I-20 and driving to Atlanta if some guy is willing to follow me that far, but I was going to run out of gas before I lost this guy, probably before I got to a gas station.
- I let the guy get in front of me. Rookie moves nearly cost me the game, and I'm not a rookie.
- I didn't lock my doors. The guy left the largest dent my car has, with his cell phone. If he'd managed to pull me out of the car, I'd be dead.
Now I know I'm passive aggressive and that's why I start fights I have no intention of finishing. But this time, I started a fight and left myself almost no out. Sky divers start to do crazier and crazier things, looking for that next rush. Hopefully this is something from along those lines, and not a more sinister urge towards self destruction.
Waiting until fullness is.
- Robert Goddam
I'm glad to announce that I've gotten more votes for this, a fucking daylog, than for any of my actual write-ups. That's 22 upvotes (that it doesn't deserve) and 8 downvotes (which it more likely deserves.) Since you care and all.