1/27/2006

Friday January 27, 2006

Departure Time: 7:25
Arrival Time: 8:12
Weather as I call it: Sunny and breezy - 72 degrees. Ok, not really.
Paper Guy: Wearing his brown hat and scarf set.
Shady Gas Price: $2.31
Yelled at other drivers: Nope
Feared for my life: Nah

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So, I got flipped off today. Let me see if I can explain the scene.

I came up to a red light. This particular road has 4 lanes. After the light turns green, all traffic progress to another traffic light, which is always red, about 150 feet away. The good news is that all four lanes of traffic continues to the next light. There are no lane drops. The bad news is the lane farthest to the right becomes a "straight only" lane...and I need to go left at the second light.

Well, I usually get myself into one of the three correct lanes at the first light. Today, not so much. I was in the right lane and I needed to get over. If I couldn't, I would obey the law and go straight...BUT if I saw any opportunity to get left, I would. The light turned green. One car hesitated. I didn't. I got in front of this guy and stopped at the red light right behind another car....no big deal.

Here I was, sitting at the red light and I just happened to look in my rear view mirror....and the dude behind me took this opportunity to express his thoughts about my maneuvering. His 'bird' was flipped sideways, parallel to the top of his dashboard. I guess it's like shooting guns in the movies...you always want to hold the barrel sideways because it just looks cooler.

As an added bonus, he opened his eyes wide as his bird was flipped to let me know he was downright "loco" and I made the mistake of my life getting pulling in front of him. I had a few choices...I could respond or do nothing. Since I had my sunglasses on, he probably couldn't tell I could see what he was doing. I remained motionless and watched him go back to fiddling with his radio or picking sesame seeds out of his passenger side seat's fabric. It was amazing to see how fleeting his road rage was.

After the light turned green, I progressed as I normally do and lost him immediately....so the dude wasn't even in a rush. If he had blown by me in a huff, then I would understand. I think he was mad that I caught him dosing at a red light...one of the cardinal sins of driving in Boston.

Don't you know I have a blog, punk? Don't mess with me.

Did I do something that was worthy of the bird? Please comment and let me know.

1 comment:

JB said...

Nah, I think he was just pissed that you caught him asleep at the wheel. All's fair in love, war, and Boston driving, where not paying attention, even for a shade of a second, is a felony.

I do love the detail of the sideways-bird. I think that minimized glare off the sloped windshield and ensured that you could see it.