Now, it's no secret that I suffer from random outbursts of anger behind the wheel, but I feel as though I completely had the right to fly off the handle a little bit today. It was probably not the best day for me to be driving, but with a dentist appointment scheduled, I really had no choice.
On my way to the appointment, I found myself sitting at a red light behind some car with handicap plates. Before I know it I feel a push behind me and realize a huge semi is nudging my car forward. The first time it happened, I thought it was a fluke. The second time, I started to panic because it was seriously pushing my car forward and I thought I was going straight into the car in front of me. I felt like I was in one of those horror movies where the crazy truck driver is trying to get you off the road and kill you. Yes, I watch too many scary movies.
Anyway, what do you do in that situation? I started honking my horn, which probably freaked out the handicapped driver in front of me, but I didn't know what else to do. Luckily the light turned green and the car in front of me zoomed off--probably freaked out by me and my incessant honking. You're probably wondering why I did not pull over and make the truck driver do the same thing. In order for you to understand why I couldn't you have to see where this all took place. There was no shoulder and no way stopping would have been safe for anyone.
When I started moving again I realized I was about to hit another red light so I switched lanes to avoid being stuck in a car sandwich again. I ended up losing the truck and praying that no damage was done to my precious car. The minute I had the chance, I pulled into a gas station to investigate. Thankfully, there were only a few minor scratches to accompany the existing ones and no major dents or breaks. At that point I let out a sigh of relief and the knots in my stomach came undone.
When I got to the dentist's office I ended up parking in front of a meter that was broken. Although I didn't realize it until after I put two quarters in it. I sat there for a minute cursing the meter as its flashing display screen mocked me, then just left and went to the office. There were no other spots to park, so I really had no choice but to suck it up no matter what happened. Unfortunately, my dentist freaked me out a little when she told me their meter maids were pretty tough, so I ended up going back to the meter and putting a note that said "Broken Meter." I mean, what exactly are you supposed to do in that situation? Wait for the meter maid and tell her what's going on? Fortunately, when I later returned to my car, there was no ticket.
My last incident occurred as I was driving home from the train station. I was sitting at a red light again when the car behind me started honking. I looked all around trying to figure out why this fool was honking, but I saw nothing weird. The whole time he was behind me he kept honking, which made me completely paranoid. Were my brake lights not working? Did I have a flat tire? Was there a killer hiding in my back seat? (Again, too many scary movies.) I had no damn clue. I finally got him off my butt but still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with my car.
When I got home I tried testing my brake lights, because I couldn't see anything else physically wrong with my car. I don't know if you've ever tried it, but testing your brake lights by yourself is a little difficult. It's easy enough to look in the rearview mirror, press the brakes and see the lights brighten. The hard part is sitting in a well-lit garage trying to figure out if all the bulbs are working and if the one in your rear window is actually lighting up. Using a long pole and a paper towel (don't ask), I managed to figure out that every light was emitting some sort of red glow. So, I have no idea why the hell the person behind me in the Honda Ridgeline was honking.
Today was not a good day for me to be on the road. The drivers of New Jersey are definitely out to get me.
One last thing...Mizzou...Elite 8...woohoo! No matter what happens tomorrow against UConn, I'm proud of my Tigers. M-I-Z...Z-O-U!
No comments:
Post a Comment