I just gave somebody road rage...

Once, while sitting in a left-hand turn lane, I motioned for a truck (that wanted to come across the lanes of the direction I was facing and make a left on the road I was waiting to cross) to go ahead. I thought I was doing the guy a favor, because he needed the lanes in both directions to be clear for him to make his move. I only needed the direction I was crossing. I figured I'd be nice and let him go ahead and go first since it took less effort for me. Well he came on out and crossed the lanes of the direction I was sitting, but when he got up to being right in front of me, he flipped me off and screamed, "F'ing Bitch!"

I'm still not sure how trying to do something nice upset him so much.

 

I allow myself at least one expression of road rage a day. A finger, a curse word. No harm. I just make sure I don't do anything at all after that: I just drive and prepare to be a good victim for the police report in case the guy in the other car goes psycho on me.

 

Some people are lunatics.

 

Did the truck look like this?

 

Jay, I'd probably have beaten the shit out of the guy. Which I know is not the good call, but as pissed as I get at bad drivers, people who can't let it go when someone else makes a mistake are just assholes.

I admit, part of this confidence comes from the fact that I am a very big dude. Last year I was in upstate NY and merged onto a rural road, but pissed off a redneck truck full of idiots because I wasn't doing 150 like they were. They were honking, flipping me off, riding my ass, so I pulled into a gas station a couple of miles up. The tough-guy driver watched me unfold myself from my tiny rental car and turned tail.

 

is that from that old dennis weaver movie?

 

Was that the truck the monster from Jeepers Creepers drove?

 

Two awesome, underappreciated films featuring menacing big rigs:

"Breakdown" (1997) Kurt Russell in a taut thriller featuring a cliffhanger on the edge of a bridge that will make your balls crawl up your throat.

"Joy Ride" (2001) Just a fantastic "it-could-happen-to-me" story with a great, suspenseful ending.

 

this isn't the films thread, nancy.

 

I don't know about Breakdown, but Joy Ride is like an example of the most ultimate road rage.

 

Yes. Yes it is. "Duel" is the name of the film. One of Spielberg's first movies, actually.

 

I've had a few of these incidents (apparently, I have a talent for pissing people off just as much when I'm behind the whell as I do when I'm at my keyboard).

Once, another driver cut me off and I called him an asshole. My window was closed, but apparently he read lips just fine. I thought nothing of it. When we came to a light, I didn't even realize he had gotten out of his car until he tapped on my window. I roll it down and he calmly tells me there was no need for profanity. I calmly responded that there was no need for him to cut me off, either. He says, "fair enough," and walks back to his care and drives off. I never understood why he bothered if he was going to be reasonable.