"Aye, so ye wanna buy a stamp?"
That's a pretty freaky story, furball.
I see some people get really torqued-up (and no, not me) on the road. You can't tell with people anymore.
There are folks wound so tight that even if you just make a dismissive, "where's your head?" gesture, they'll take it as the biggest offense ever and make a big thing of it.
I usually just keep my hands on the wheel or gear. I'll occasionally do an eyeroll, headshake or let loose with a string of cussing if someone really irks me.
But I'm not about to get into it with some idiot on the road. I've seen enough of those "World's Wackiest A-Hole Drivers Caught on Tape" shows that I don't want any part of some fat redneck with a baseball bat (or worse).
My biggest thing is that I'm constantly in one of two situations (always on a hilly, curvy two-lane road where passing is impossible):
- Behind a total slowpoke (literally someone doing 20mph on a 35-40mph road)
or
- I'll be tailgated by someone on the same type of road (I'm going 40-45, and they're wanting to go 70).
I'll frequently give the two-handed/shoulder shrug "I'm going about as fast as I can, pal...back up off my ass!" gesture in those situations (being tailgated). That's one of my pet peeves, someone riding my bumper (surface street or freeway), especially if a) I'm not in the fast lane and they've got an easy way around me (at that point you're just being an asshole, riding me like that), or b) I'm driving as fast/safe as I can for the road/conditions (always amazes me how many people, on a rainy, yucky day, want to drive
faster than everyone around them).
People are idiots, that's the problem. All the ABS, airbags, daytime lights, safety cages, etc. in the world don't address the root problem in all this...people are impatient, arrogant, self-centered, hopped-up oblivitards, by and large. Put those people into 2,000-5,000 hunks of rolling metal (with a cell phone, DVD player, GPS, etc.), and it's just amplified. Until GM comes out with the Asshat Deluxe sedan, which simply sits in the driveway and doesn't go anywhere, that's not gonna change.