A few days ago, I told the friend that we had to make use of the sunny Sunday that was forecast. "It could be the last one for a long time" I said.
I am glad we put that sunny day to good use. Boy has the weather changed since then. Typhoon-like conditions. Wind. Rain. Not the drip-drip variety rain, but the rain that comes down in buckets. The rain with the huge drops that almost crack open my bald head.
Autumn in Oregon.
The sudden change in the season has upset some people, apparently.
On the road, as the two lanes were merging, I noticed the two vehicles ahead of me were on par with each other. Clearly neither driver wanted to yield to the other. I slowed down and gave myself even more space than I normally do. I didn't want to become a victim in their game of chicken.
Finally, almost at the last minute, one vehicle's brake lights flashed for a second and the other vehicle went ahead. Collision avoided.
I was so focused on the drama in front of me that I did not know about the drama that was unfolding behind me. It was another case of road rage, with neither driver yielding to another. I tuned into that show at the final stages.
I saw one driver raise the hands over the steering wheel, in frustration maybe. And almost immediately, the hand of the other driver came out. And then the one-finger salute.
I tell ya, these people do not deserve to be in Oregon.
A couple of minutes later, another lane opened up. I moved over to the slow lane, of course. The finger-driver's vehicle shot past me in the other lane. It was a woman.
Which is when I wondered whether a woman showing the finger makes any sense at all. When a man shows his finger, there is the suggested threat with the finger representing the penis. There is nothing literal when a woman shows the finger, right?
Because I was in the slow lane, the fingered-driver's vehicle caught up with me. The driver was a woman in this case too.
But, here is the worst thing: In the passenger seat was a young girl, who perhaps was about twelve or thirteen. I felt awful that the kid was exposed to such a terrible behavior.
I suppose this is also a part of life. Kids get to see angry people. Homeless people. Sick people. All kinds of people.
It is one crazy world.
4 comments:
Oregonian hate weather. Not bad weather, ALL weather. When temperatures approach 80 degrees, Oregonians complain that it is too hot outside. When things begin to cool off, they lament that the warm weather is gone and that the rain is coming. Fog makes it hard to see, snow is dangerous to drive in.
Of course, as you've made clear in your posts on driving, Oregonians can't drive in rain or sunshine either! Perhaps we should move all the testy Oregon drivers to Boston or Chicago for a couple years and see how much they appreciate the nice weather and "bad traffic" we get here.
I don't care for driving and am very impatient. While I have never given the one finger salute to or even sworn at another driver, I have raised my hands in a sign of "What are you thinking????" many, many times. I used to give suggestions to other drivers, such as the "gas pedal is on the right" or "green means go," until one of the kids beat me to the comment at a red light. Last time that ever happened, to be sure. We can laugh about it now, but I was mortified at what I had taught them.
Someone studied speeding and calculated time saved by driving various speeds over the same courses. The minimal savings in time definitely slowed me down, as does an aversion to tickets. I still driver faster than my friend prefers, but he's wearing me down.
I need to hit the lottery so I can hire a full-time driver and do away with all this nonsense.
Yes, if only people knew how awful real traffic conditions can be ... I refer to the traffic time in Eugene as "the rush minute" ;)
Keep Rumi's verse in mind, whenever you feel impatient:
"What is this competition we feel then,
before we go, one at a time, through the same gate?"
I am utterly shocked at Anne's comment. I cannot believe that the good lady can ever resort to a comment like "The gas pedal is on your right" !! I thought the gentle lady was incapable of a show of displeasure beyond raising of one (not even both) eyebrow !:):):)
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