15:30 - 17:30

let me tell you a little something about road rage.

i get it.

yes, though my personality screams sweet, funny, charming, and empathetic most of the time... get me on a day with little sleep and BOOM. road monster.

perhaps it's not QUITE that bad, but it's pretty intense.
today on my drive home i was very tired. i just wanted to get home. i needed to pick up some hair elastics from a pharma plus, so i took a bit of a detour. on my way into a turning lane i got cut off (pet peeve) by a black sports car without a signal (bigger pet peeve).

so needless to say, i was pre-peeved for what happened next. he then proceeds to go into the same turning lane as me and signal to turn left at a spot that has a clear "no turning between 15:30 and 17:30" (honestly. i google mapped it to make sure). it is 4:30 pm. AKA 16:30! AKA IN BETWEEN THOSE TIMES!

now, i'm not one to lay on the horn. most of the time. so i gave him a "just so you know, you're really keeping me from where I need to go, and illegally, at that" honk. nothing. so then i skip right past "PLEASE stop turning left and let's all keep going" to "HEY JERK FACE! I WANT TO DRIVE NOW!".

black sports car drivers door opens, and a head shouting some choice words at me pops out. (honestly, pretty grateful it was just his shoulders and head that came out, rather than all of him to walk over to my car). me, because i'm too angry to open my door too, shouts back from inside the car where he can't really hear me "READ THE SIGN!". he looks up, shuts his door, and keeps on his merry way.

i'd like to think that he kept going because he was embarrassed and too prideful to stop what he was already doing and realized he was wrong and i was right. that said, he could have just been spiteful. regardless... I'M actually kind of embarrassed.

i encourage the youth i work with and my brother and others in my life to stop to consider the interactions we have with others. i often push for people to work hard to be a good part of someone's day rather than a bad part. i can be quoted to have said that we should return frustrating or mean things with kindness. where was all that in my road rage moment?

yes, he was in the wrong (i google mapped it, i have proof).
yes, i was tired.
no, that does not make it better.

so here's to working on a better response for next time.