Road Wrath - E

I would have titled this entry "Road Rage", but it wouldn't have implied the violence that I witnessed driving to work today. I was stopped at a stoplight on San Tomas, and an older white-haired Indian or Hispanic man driving an old, beat up gray Corolla pulled up next to me. All of a sudden, the middle-aged Asian guy behind him, who was driving a late-model 4-Runner or Land Cruiser, stalked out of his car and walked up to the driver's side of the Corolla. He proceeded to bang his hand on the top of the Corolla, yell something, spit on the guy's window, and walk back to his car. Of course, this pissed off the Corolla guy, and he got out of his car. The Asian dude came back, and it looked like they were going to fight. But all that happened was a few wussy whiffs and maybe a slap on the arm. The Asian guy spit at the other guy again, they yelled at each other, and they both got in their cars.

As the light turned green, traffic was slow to pick up, probably because everybody was watching. As I drove off, I watched them in my rear view mirror, and the Corolla guy was being a punk, trying to stay in front of the Asian dude -- driving real slow, then switching lanes to prevent the Asian dude from passing. Last I saw, the Asian dude was trying to pass the Corolla guy by abandoning the asphalt and driving on the median in the middle, which is made up of dirt and dried up grass. Crazy. Of course, the Corolla guy was doing his darndest to make sure that the Asian dude couldn't pass.

Insanity. I don't know if my story was effective in conveying what happened, but it was so shocking. And so ugly. And yet, I thought, I have some of that in me, too. I may not have road wrath, but I do suffer from road anxiety which leads to road anger. If I didn't have a healthy conscience, who knows what I'd be capable of?

I don't know what happened that set this off -- maybe the Corolla guy cut him off or almost caused a crash -- but I don't think it's justification to spit on him and go postal.