Jooooooooooan

Adventures in commuting

Pretty much everyday I drive to work the same way. Today was no exception. The freeway on-ramp that I use is one of those where it just turns into another lane as the freeway gets wider. As I am accelerating, I am right next to an old green Astro minivan and about to pass it completely, but the driver apparently doesn't see me and decides to merge into my lane. I lean on my horn, and the minivan slams on the brakes and merges in behind me. I glance in my rear-view mirror, only to see the driver flipping me off all the way to the next exit. I return the gesture (probably stupid, I know), and receive the double-bird in return. So now I am in front of a driver who does not check for cars before changing lanes, doesn't signal, and is driving with no hands. Whatever, I speed off and leave him behind.

Fast forward 10 minutes to when I get off the freeway. I am stopped in the right turn lane at a red light, slowly moving forward as cars turn right on red. When I get to the front, people are crossing the street so I have to wait. As I turn my head, I see the green Astro pull up to a stop in the next lane. Great. So I ignore it, and look back to see if I can go yet. Of course not. When I look back the other way, the driver has his passenger side window down, and is motioning at me to roll down my window. Not being one to avoid confrontation, I roll down my window. With plenty of screaming and expletives to get his point across, the driver lets me know that, get this, his KIDS are in the back and they don't need to see their dad get flipped off by "some little bitch" on the freeway. At this point, one of the people taking their sweet time crossing the street has overheard, and she is now screaming at the guy in the Astro telling him that's not how you speak to a woman and he's a terrible father and should have his kids taken away, blah blah blah. I start to laugh, then the woman smiles at me and says, "Have a lovely day, sweetheart," as she finally makes it across the street. What a fabulous start to a Tuesday.

posted by Jooooooooooan @ 1:50 PM