Taking A Stand: As drivers, we’ve all been ‘the idiot’
I’m one of those who says you need to think before you wave your middle finger at another motorist since it’s only a matter of time until you are the “idiot” behind the wheel.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’m not preaching forgive and forget when someone almost kills you at an intersection by being a bonehead. Some folks are simply arming themselves with 4,000-pound weapons any time they drive. I firmly believe it’s too easy to get a license and that driving IS NOT a right. And yes, I suffer from acute road rage, especially when I drive in the mother of all traffic jams we commonly refer to as Murfreesboro.
There’s been many times I’ve threatened aloud inside my car to some day return to the very street where another driver did me wrong, next time driving a log truck with a vengeful attitude to send them into the wall like the last lap at Bristol. Yes, other drivers often send me to the very edge of rage, making me want to ring their necks.
However, it is at the point of nearly losing it that I remember doing ugly things only makes you look weak. What does flipping off another driver do? Well, in some places it gets you pulled over and beat up. But, most generally, the other driver who has offended you simply thinks you’re a jerk whose parents failed in your upbringing.
For me, yelling at another motorist or telling them they are “No. 1” in sign language is a no-win situation since there’s always a chance you may do it to someone you know. Who knows, the punk kid who cuts me off in his new Scion could be the son of some person I went to school with. Now how mature would I be in their eyes when they learned a guy, old enough to know better, did something so immature?
Just because I’m not waving the finger or cussing at people doesn’t mean I don’t vent. Oh, I vent.
“I hate this town,” I yell inside my car every time I’m driving in Murfreesboro, my disgust with their antiquated and overcrowded road system boiling over even during a simple trip to Red Lobster.
But, the good thing, the rage which bubbles over inside the car, always stays inside the car, right? Well, not really.
I don’t have to be moving to have road rage. There are things like waiting in line to pick up my son at Dibrell Elementary which gives me equal rage if I’m in a hurry. The thing that really ticks me off are motorists who will be in one of the two lines to pick up their children but leave their vehicles and back up the whole line when it begins to move. They almost always will also leave their vehicle parked in such a way that no one can get around them. This means everyone is stuck behind them because they decided to violate the rules by “running in” for a minute.
Unfortunately, I’ve discovered my road rage has been passed on to my son who has overheard daddy calling these folks “idiots” in the privacy of his own car. I’ve pointed out to Jack that daddy “needs to release his stress” in some way and venting anger toward the rule-breakers is a good way.
However, as I said, there’s always going to be a day you become the idiot. Mine was a while back when Jack was late coming from class. My car ended up backing up traffic as I waited for him at the door. After getting on to him for being late, I was given my just desserts by his response.
“Daddy, were you the idiot today?” Kids say the darndest things.
Duane Sherrill is a reporter for the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].