Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Merging

I woke up late this morning so I had to practically run through the shower, throw on some clothes, hug the kids and jump in the car. There was no time for food, or coffee – I just had to get moving. While I drove through my neighborhood I turned up the music on the radio and checked my cell phone for messages.

Once out of the neighborhood I made a quick stop for a cup of coffee, paid a little under three dollars, but still a lot less that someone might pay at other businesses. But while considering that I could imagine my Dad’s voice commenting on the fact that when he owned his own convenience store he used to give away free cups of coffee (in the “good ole’ days”).

Things seemed to be going well, there were no problems at home or work- so all I really had to do was cruise into the office. As I approached the interstate I swung around the on-ramp, its one of those big, banking circles that leads to the main road, and then I started to merge. Usually I have plenty of horsepower to merge with no problem, but this morning some guy refused to allow me to merge and when I slowed to merge behind him he slowed down – it seemed as if he was just trying to block me from entering.

I slowed down even more to allow him a wide birth in an effort to let him move on down the road with no further incident. As he pulled away he flung me the finger out his driver’s window and gunned the engine. I’ve read about road-rage stories that had bad endings, and I’ve also read that the safest way to handle anger while driving is to avoid the conflict – you just never know what kind of day each person has experienced.

Another driver let me merge onto the thorough-fare and I motioned a “Thank you” to that person. Traffic continued moving on down the road and I called the office. Mostly I called the office so I could hear a friendly voice and calm down. This guy impressed on me the fact that emotions can escalate with no apparent reason and be really dangerous.

About 10 minutes later the traffic started to move even faster. I had my music playing and things seemed to be back to normal. But just when I started to forget the ordeal and fall back into the normal flow of traffic a sea of taillights flashed red in front of me and I hit the brakes. It was at that moment I heard a horn blaring from behind me. I looked in the rearview mirror and immediately realized that the same guy was behind me waving his hands around; banging on his dashboard.

I immediately started shaking; it might have been more like a shivering motion. But at the same time I was steaming mad, I just wanted to jump out and do something.

Then I caught myself and thought, “This could go bad. He might have a gun”.

But I really wanted to do something, something that would teach him a lesson, teach him that he’s not my boss and everything doesn’t just go his way. I grabbed the door handle, pulled backwards and then I actually said out loud, “Idiot, close the door and lock it”, and that’s exactly what I did.

He kept honking the horn, and I could see that he was still pounding on the dashboard. He opened his door and stepped out of his vehicle. It was at that moment I thought, “I need to call the police, or a have a big gun”. Then I recalled that I do in fact have a permit for a concealed weapon and that pistol is in my car.

Looking in my rearview mirror I watched as he slammed the driver’s door of his vehicle.

I reached for my pistol, took another look in my rear-view mirror and realized he was no longer in sight. I became more scared, but more angry too. I checked the ammunition in the weapon’s chamber and then looked over my left shoulder to be sure he was not advancing toward the driver’s side door of my car.

I couldn’t locate him, so with the pistol in my right-hand I opened the door and jumped out to realize the he was kneeling on the ground looking at the tire on the passenger’s side of his vehicle.

Trembling, I sat on the ground.

Maybe 5 minutes passed while I sat there considering how my life could have ended, how I could have shot him or been shot over a spot in traffic. Once my nerves were calmed and I was sure that this guy wasn’t violent I walked over and asked if everything was ok, not counting the flat tire of course, and if there was something I could do to help.

After the two of us had a chance to speak and I learned that his name was Bob, we both agreed that we were lucky to have not been injured. I also learned that during the emergency stop of his vehicle Bruce was able to avoid ramming my vehicle by quickly turning his vehicle to the right; this is what caused his wheel to blow out and become flat.

***
Please keep in mind that this blog posting was an exercise in creative writing.

I have to be clear and say that this story is entirely false. I do not have a pistol in my automobile, no incident took place today, or any other day and I pray that nothing like this ever takes place. Please keep in mind that violence like this leads to nothing good, and emotions can get the best of the best person. Be careful!

2 comments:

  1. WOW...talk about a twist! Sadly, road rage is all too common these days and more people should take a deep breath before letting things escalate. ~L~

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  2. You are so right, thanks for the comment and your time to read my work. Take care!

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