Monday, June 26, 2006

So Does This Make Me A Righteous Person or a Bad Person?

A few weeks ago I was in rush hour traffic, coming across an overpass. I was in the left lane of the two-lane road. My lane was slowing to a stop because the left-turn-lane ahead was full, and cars were stopping in the traffic lane to turn left. This is not an unusual occurrence during heavy traffic, of course.

In front of me was an old beater car. As I signaled and merged into the right lane of traffic (to avoid having to stop and wait for the cars turning left to get out of my way), the beater cut me off and forced me to slam on my brakes. The driver just decided that she was going to merge into the right lane, even though I was there, because she knew that I’d slam on my brakes to avoid an accident.

I think most people have this common experience daily. Some other driver decides that their life and task is more important than the rest of the world. They decide to force you to slam on your brakes so they can force their car into your lane. They decide that the smooth flow of traffic should be disrupted by their own selfishness. I also think most law-abiding people like me say in their heads, “One of these days, I’m just going to let some idiot hit me and pay the consequences.” Well, this was my day.

As we neared the next intersection, the traffic fell into the same pattern: the left traffic lane was stopping to accommodate turning cars. I merged into the right traffic lane and watched with fury as the same beater car forced her way into my lane. This time, however, something inside of me snapped. I didn’t brake, I didn’t move out of the way, and I didn’t honk. I just let her think I’d slammed on my brakes and watched as she hit me.

There were stopped cars in the left traffic lane, and our two cars fighting for the same right traffic lane. I allowed her car to hit mine. I then followed her out of the way of the heavy traffic into a parking lot and called the police despite her protests. I didn’t mention the fact that she had cut me off on purpose, or yell at her, or blame her. I simply took out my phone and called the police.

The officer arrived and gave her a ticket. Her insurance company paid to have my car fixed. Her insurance rates will go up. She missed her appointment. I am glad.

I feel vengeance now against all those people out there who know they can break the law because people like me will bend over and take it. I stuck it to one of them. I bet she was SO shocked that someone actually allowed her to hit them.

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