A Good Friday for road rage
Apparently, you can train your mind to have lucid dreams. I wish I were divergent so that I could just have lucid dreams instead of having to train for them.
This post doesn't really deal with lucid dreaming so much as daydreaming...so much as revenge daydreaming.
The road I drive to pick up Alex from school has a feeder road that yields to it and the main road I drive shares a lane with the people who would be merging. As you can imagine there is very little to no merging that happens at this point. I know this to be a truth and always make sure I have room to get over to the left when the yielding road speeds into my lane. I never honk, or yell, or speed around them. There's usually just a sarcastic comment made in my mind and a triumphant validation that I am better than that person.
Until Friday.
The holiest Friday of the entire year when my thoughts are supposed to be on passion for Jesus and fasting and abstinence...
I was following a semi and saw a Range Rover speeding up toward the merge instead of slowing down. For some reason on this day, the holiest Friday, I. could.not.even. I didn't speed up or down; I stayed at a constant speed within the speed limit, three seconds behind the semi, and was determined to stay in my lane no matter what. I had a quick talk with the Honda and we decided that whatever happened would be worth the remaining 4000 miles we had left together. If anything, V would be happy for an excuse to get rid of her early.
As we neared the actual merge the woman driving the Ranger Rover blew through the yield sign and didn't so much as even look over. We were side by side with about 30 feet to go before we would sideswipe each other.
Also it should be noted at this point that Alex was not in the car.
As we continued, I aborted my plan last minute and moved to the left because she was really not going to yield, but I only moved half a lane. I also sped up, passing her while laying on the horn. Not my best moment. I'm glad I don't own a firearm because I would have shot at her, for sure, in passing. I felt rage that can only be compared to the rage that I get when I foolishly allow myself to read the internet comments sections.
"Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast," Ron told me.
BUT...
Then. She sped up and honked at me, like I was the asshole. Shaking her finger and yelling as she passed me!
That is where this story ends.
I tried deep breathing and validation that I was certainly so much better than her it wasn't even a competition, which usually works, but not this day. All my coping mechanisms were sure to be 0% effective. This woman was getting the brunt of the hundred non-yielding people before her.
I spent the rest of the drive seething and wishing that she had followed me so that I could coolly get out of my car and act perfectly composed while she went crazy. Disinterested, I would take a Ryan Reynolds approach and wait for her to stop yelling before saying something like, "I'm so sorry. My carpal tunnel syndrome kicked in and my arm locked on the horn...OR maybe there was a huge yield sign that you failed. to follow and nearly hit me..."
Or something better than that. That's just one scenario I was throwing around.
Another was to FaceTime V before getting out and leaving my phone in view in case she killed me.
That was probably more realistic.
Obviously, this was not the way to head into the Easter weekend. Jesus didn't die for me so that I could use my second amendment right to shoot at an idiot or wish that I had run her off the road into a ditch. That's not a healthy a state of mind.
After a lot of woosah, I pulled it together.
I don't often rage on the road (honestly, hardly ever), but when I do, you bet your ass it was your fault. And if you confront me about it, I'll have nothing to say and just stand there and cry.
Take that.
 |
| this isn't real... |
This post doesn't really deal with lucid dreaming so much as daydreaming...so much as revenge daydreaming.
The road I drive to pick up Alex from school has a feeder road that yields to it and the main road I drive shares a lane with the people who would be merging. As you can imagine there is very little to no merging that happens at this point. I know this to be a truth and always make sure I have room to get over to the left when the yielding road speeds into my lane. I never honk, or yell, or speed around them. There's usually just a sarcastic comment made in my mind and a triumphant validation that I am better than that person.
Until Friday.
The holiest Friday of the entire year when my thoughts are supposed to be on passion for Jesus and fasting and abstinence...
I was following a semi and saw a Range Rover speeding up toward the merge instead of slowing down. For some reason on this day, the holiest Friday, I. could.not.even. I didn't speed up or down; I stayed at a constant speed within the speed limit, three seconds behind the semi, and was determined to stay in my lane no matter what. I had a quick talk with the Honda and we decided that whatever happened would be worth the remaining 4000 miles we had left together. If anything, V would be happy for an excuse to get rid of her early.
As we neared the actual merge the woman driving the Ranger Rover blew through the yield sign and didn't so much as even look over. We were side by side with about 30 feet to go before we would sideswipe each other.
Also it should be noted at this point that Alex was not in the car.
As we continued, I aborted my plan last minute and moved to the left because she was really not going to yield, but I only moved half a lane. I also sped up, passing her while laying on the horn. Not my best moment. I'm glad I don't own a firearm because I would have shot at her, for sure, in passing. I felt rage that can only be compared to the rage that I get when I foolishly allow myself to read the internet comments sections.
"Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast," Ron told me.
BUT...
Then. She sped up and honked at me, like I was the asshole. Shaking her finger and yelling as she passed me!
That is where this story ends.
I tried deep breathing and validation that I was certainly so much better than her it wasn't even a competition, which usually works, but not this day. All my coping mechanisms were sure to be 0% effective. This woman was getting the brunt of the hundred non-yielding people before her.
I spent the rest of the drive seething and wishing that she had followed me so that I could coolly get out of my car and act perfectly composed while she went crazy. Disinterested, I would take a Ryan Reynolds approach and wait for her to stop yelling before saying something like, "I'm so sorry. My carpal tunnel syndrome kicked in and my arm locked on the horn...OR maybe there was a huge yield sign that you failed. to follow and nearly hit me..."
Or something better than that. That's just one scenario I was throwing around.
Another was to FaceTime V before getting out and leaving my phone in view in case she killed me.
That was probably more realistic.
Obviously, this was not the way to head into the Easter weekend. Jesus didn't die for me so that I could use my second amendment right to shoot at an idiot or wish that I had run her off the road into a ditch. That's not a healthy a state of mind.
After a lot of woosah, I pulled it together.
I don't often rage on the road (honestly, hardly ever), but when I do, you bet your ass it was your fault. And if you confront me about it, I'll have nothing to say and just stand there and cry.
Take that.
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