Note to self - Keep the bird in the cage

I am telling on myself to keep myself accountable.  I make not excuse for my behavior and please note, I have learned a lesson.

Today I found myself in Orem.  I do not know my way around Orem so I was fighting heavy traffic plus trying to make sense of my MapQuest print out - trying to read street signs and make sure I don't miss a turn.  Needless to say, I went the wrong way off the freeway.  It took me awhile to figure it out.  And there are 4 lanes of traffic in each direction.  I was going the wrong direction on the far wrong side of the road.  I started  making my way over with the goal to turn at the next turn light.  I turned on my blinker.  I made it through 2 lanes of traffic but the 3rd, there was a car that came up right on my tail and slowed down so I couldn't get over.  I put on my break to let the car pass me.  Clearly that driver was not going to let me over.  As he passed, I don't know what came over me but I decided to flip him off.

Not exactly what I mean....

The driver caught it and jammed on his breaks.  I think he was trying to get me to hit him.  Then he kept swerving to get me to hit him. I got all the way over without hitting him thank god but he stopped right next to my passenger side of the car and rolled down the window and started screaming at me.  Luckily I had my sunglasses  on and I decided to take the high road and not look and not engage in this rage fest.  I had the windows up and thank GOD the doors were locked.  The radio was on and I could still hear him.  I believe he stepped out of his car too.  But honestly, I didn't look so all this was through  my peripheral vision...which is not great because my eye has been radiated and still healing.  I'm pretty sure he spit on my car. 

I was stuck in the left turn lane.  I felt like a sitting duck.  Luckily the light changed and he went straight but with all that rage directed at me, I was pretty sure he was coming back.  So I waited until all lanes were clear and I went all the way across to the right and drove through some stores parking lots.  I ended up stuck behind a car dealership...which was probably a good thing.  Hopefully he didn't see where I went.   I found myself shaking terribly and needed a minute to catch my breath.  I made my way through the parking lot of cars and got myself corrected and headed in the right direction I needed to go.

I have a few take aways from this experience today:

1) Keep the bird in the cage.  No amount of momentary gratification is worth having someone rage at you.  Keep it to words - spoken within your own car and without allowing other drivers to read your lips.

2) When a car will not let you over, and purposely blocks your progression, there is a good chance there is a very aggressive person inside.

3) We really do need more kindness in this world.  Seriously.

4) Although Orem has a reputation of being a community of heavily religious affiliation, that doesn't mean all people are kind and courteous.

And lastly, I can't get my arms around the level of anger and rage from this person.  I'm calling it a "him" but really, I don't know.  The mannerisms seemed man like but I honestly don't know. In my years of driving, I've been flipped off and honked at probably a bazillion times.  In my younger years, I often responded back in kind but since my last road rage incident almost 25 years ago, I learned to smile and shrug meaning "Yeah...you are right, I am stupid."  It just isn't worth playing into that rage.  I feel very sorry for this persons family, co-workers, and especially, his dog.  They  must deal with that level of anger often.

So now I am taking a vow to my blogging audience....

I promise to keep my excellent "flipping the bird" finger to myself.  You never know what the person on the receiving end of my communication might be dealing with or how they will react.  It is not worth the overall experience.

I can get the spit washed off my car.  I'm thankful he didn't beat my car or scratch it.  And I REALLY hope he didn't catch my license plate number and have a way to find out who I am.  I guess I should be careful answering my door for awhile.