I was driving to school yesterday, or work, err--both, since I work and go to school at school. Anyways. I was driving into the sun (that would be... yes, East). As I am traveling in the right lane, I see a lady on the sidewalk. She's tall, she's got something on her head, perhaps because it's not "fixed" and she is dressed casually (or maybe in her pajamas). I see her look my direction (left), but I'm pretty sure she hasn't seen me. She looks to her right and waits for the cars on the other side of the road as they come closer. Just as I am right in front of her, she begins to step out into the street as she looks at me. Our eyes locked and I am trying to figure out if I should swerve or slam on my brakes and inadvertantly do both. The giant leap towards me she has taken is harder for her to stop than she thought. But she manages to reverse her momentum, and as her wide eyes peer at mine we both manage to mouth the same giant word to each other: "SORRY!"
I was so grateful that this lady had the courage to mouth the word. She hadn't intended to risk her life, and because of that I suppose I just felt sorry that I had been right there at that time to scare the crap out of her! We certainly had a moment as I saw her life flash before her eyes.
At this point, I must admit that I have little understanding of road rage. It's not that I've never told someone they were an idiot for how they drive, because I have. I just don't see the point in getting SO angry about it.
And now that I think about it... I guess it really boils down to the fact that I don't have an anger issue. Hopefully anyone who is reasonably adjusted and moderately healthy on an emotional level has difficulty in understanding outrageous bursts of anger.
And that reminds me...This past weekend I took a therapy workshop for one wonderful hour of credit. Guess what it was called? Cognitive Therapy for Anger Management. It turns out that anger is a big issue, especially when you have compounding situations/history.
Perhaps we need to create some type of bumper-sticker system. From green to red or something, with about 4 levels. Green is for the polite and happy drivers, they might drive too slow, and the like to let people in. Yellow could be for someone like me, I might honk at you, but I'm probably not mad. I just want you to know that I didn't like that, you were about to hit me, or the light turned green. Orange could be for someone that just doesn't have too much patience in the car, they are always in a hurry and they might curse at you and show you the bird if you cut them off (on purpose or accident). Red would be for the crazys that might get out and punch/shoot(?) you if you take their parking space... or anyone with a history of violence or assault charges on their records.
The only problem is...
front or back bumper?
2 comments:
As Wichita's newest serious cyclist, I've had a couple of close calls with cars, too, as I both learn what I can/can't do physically on my bike and remember that people here often don't use their turn signals. I do not want to be one of those cyclists who acts as though the rules of the road don't apply to him, but the corollary is that sometimes drivers don't take cyclists into account as they look at the entrances to the parking lot they're about to turn in to. Anyway, all this is to say that your narrative reminded me of some recent near-misses I've had--and my (and the drivers') contrition.
I think your idea about the bumper stickers is a good one, though I rather doubt that the ones who should have orange and red ones would acknowledge that they are the ones with the problem. Along these lines: on NPR a couple of weeks ago, there was a story about a study that showed that the more bumper stickers a car has, the more likely s/he is to be an aggressive driver. The idea is that such people aren't afraid of letting others know what they think about things; so if they have a beef with your driving, you'll get an earful about that, too.
I like your bumper sticker idea, but I think the orange and red ones should read "Almost an Idiot" and "Complete Idiot" respectively.
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