Are You Flashing Me?

Road rage.


I don't consider myself to have a huge amount of road rage.  I'm quite the defensive driver actually, maybe to a fault, always looking out for the other person.  I will yell occasionally in the car when someone won't move out of the left lane to let me pass or when it takes more than 5 seconds for the car in front of me to realize the light is green...but I rarely show my anger to other drivers.  I have a strict no honking rule unless it is life or death and I have never flashed my brights at someone to move over.  I try to give people the benefit of the doubt and just work around their stupidity like I would want them to do for me. 

Oh, and I also use cruise like it is my job.  Seriously.  Like on city streets I set the cruise.  I love to know exactly how fast I am going at all times.  It helps me not to speed, a wee little problem I had in my younger days, and I find it helpful in keeping my speed consistent.

But this morning, I almost let road rage get the best of me.  It was pouring down rain, as it has been for the last week, and I was in the left lane trying to make my way by the slew of cars driving "old person slow."  There was a car in front of me going slower than I was making me turn off my cruise (pet peeve)....but did I get mad?  No.  I was just driving along, minding my own business, when this crazy person comes up behind me and starts flashing their brights!  Okay, what the heck do you expect me to do??  I can't get over and there is a car in front of me!  What is the freaking purpose of flashing your brights at me?

So I get over as soon as I can and the car goes speeding by me, cuts me off, and then swerves back into the left lane cutting off the car that was going slow.  Let me tell you, I had my fingers on the brights...poised and ready to flash my little heart out...but then I stopped.  I took a breath and said, "Self, you are better than this loser."  So I didn't.

I also deal with a crazy blue van that I see a few times a week that has the worst driver ever.  At first I thought it was just cutting me off, but then I watched it one day and it did it to every person it passed.  And like dangerously cutting people off...like having to slam on the brakes cutting people off.  Many times I've thought about following this van to its destination and confronting the driver.  Not that I'd ever do that in a million years, but I honestly just think this person does not know the rules of the road.  There is no other explanation.  Can people really be this reckless on a daily basis?

I know everyone deals with crazy drivers...so I want to hear your stories!  And do you suffer from stifled road rage like I do, or do you let it out!

Happy Friday everyone!!