So I was flipped off today while driving home, and I didn't deserve it! Kinda funny how we never feel we deserve it, but I really didn't! And boy did it really strike a nerve, because I didn't deserve it. If I had deserved it I would have taken it like a man. I was driving home along the same roads that I always do when I decided to get over into my right lane just as I was coming up on a stop light. So I head check and as a car goes by me on the right, I see that I have plenty of time to get in before the next car behind him, so I merge into the right lane and almost within 30 or 40 feet do I make a full stop to wait in line at the stoplight. But the guy behind me was going way way too fast and acted very irritated that I had "cut him off", which I hadn't because he was driving like an idiot at 100 mph before he had to stop. ( I exaggerate on the speed because this guy was really driving way too fast for the situation, so I say it for the reader to side with me and understand that this guy was the one at fault, yet I end up getting flipped off?! I don't understand it either.) So as we start to go again he tails me way too close trying to make a point. I was soooo tempted to push on my brakes just enough to give him a scare, but I resisted the temptation and keep driving, not wanting to put my life in danger over making a point to this irritated person who had no reason to be irritated except that there were other cars on his road and they were driving only 10 mph above the speed limit instead of 30 over like he was, so he had to wait for all of us. Then realizing that maybe this guy is in an emergency situation and needs to get somewhere fast(he should put his emergency flashers on though, its not just for car breakdowns), like his wife may be on the floor screaming in labor pain. Oh, and I didn't want him tailgating me anymore, so I get over in the left lane. As soon as I do he zips by me on the right and almost immediately his turn comes up and he makes a right turn. As he is making his right turn I look to see the face of this idiot driver, just so I can know his type, because however this person looks is how all idiot drivers look I'm sure. Then I can know who to avoid on the road just by looking at their faces. As I look at him as he is turning right (he should be busy driving and making his right turn) he holds his hand up to the drivers side window and there I see the middle finger staring back at me as I pass by him. It was all I saw. I missed his face completely. It wasn't the solo middle finger with all of the others down, but the stylish bird with the pointer and index fingers bent at the first knuckles, the pinky just a bit lower, and the thumb extended. At that, I don't know if I should be more or less offended, but offended I am. Then my mind races with what if scenarios. What if I turned around and followed the guy into the parking lot and he sees me coming, wouldn't he then be afraid that someone actually is calling him on his bird offense and that would make him think twice next time. What if I follow him, get out and start yelling at him that he is the idiot who is driving like a madman and to slow down. What if he then yells back and keeps walking inside whatever building hes going in and I yell, "You'd better not leave your vehicle out here alone with me now after the stunt you pulled buddy!" Threatening his precious race truck. What if I were a bodybuilder and he sees me driving a little altima, but when my 6'5" frame steps out of the car he drops to his knees begging me not to beat his face in. What if I pretended to turn the other cheek and pretend to be so sorry and hurt that he flipped me off. "I'm sorry sir, but I think you just flipped me off back there and I was just wondering what I did so I can avoid doing that in the future." Would he then see my sorry apologetic state and say "No, no, it's okay, I am the real idiot here and I'm sorry I flipped you off." All of these things race through my head on the way home, as well as the thoughts, why are we offended at the sign of the bird? It is something our culture has taught us to take offense at. I chose whether or not to be offended, and in this case I chose to be. And of all my what if scenarios, the last one where I turn the other cheek would be the best scenario, though if I truly turned the other cheek, I wouldn't bother to turn around and apologize would I? I'd just keep driving, which is what I did...so did I turn the other cheek? No, because I chose to be offended and go through the what if scenarios in my head. I had let him get to me. Me. Who had much more important things to worry about and care about in life, such as a loving wife and two precious little boys who I love to make laugh. I have bigger concerns in life than how to teach the average flipper-offer a lesson. And with that thought I pull into our neighborhood and laugh out loud as I think again of the turn the cheek, apologetic scenario and I even say it out loud in a dialogue with myself.
2 comments:
That type of thing makes us all crazy. I ran into with a little blond cheerleader driving a way-too-expensive car, blabbing on her phone and racing along. She missed my truck by a mere six inches before she moved on to do the same to someone else as we all moved too slow (I was just getting off on my exit, so sue me) for her cheerleading butt. Believe, every thought you just articulated went through my mind. Fortunately, I didn't flip her the bird and she was too busy being impressed by her own self-importance to realize she'd almost just died.
Oh yeah, sorry. I found your blog via your Profile and the Mormons part of your interest. Loved the story and felt your pain.
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