Okay, so as I see it, you sized up the situation fairly well. You spotted a bad driver, altered your driving to avoid her faults and hesitations, and having done so, pulled to the side, took stock that the lady was older, not a physical threat, and therefore possibly an easy target for your anger and intimidation. While I salute you driving skills, I respectfully question the actions that you took afterwards.
I'm sorry, I hate bad drivers as much as anybody and will definitely use a few words and even go to lengths of getting their license number and reporting them to the authorities. But I also have some understanding of what some drivers go through and agree that maybe they shouldn't be driving. However, if you cannot contain your anger, maybe you shouldn't be driving either!
Would you have gotten out of your car and rampaged your anger if the driver had been a 6ft 3, 240 lb skinhead wearing a local gang tatoo? If the answer is "No", then you exercised your power of superiority in this situation. So, how is that right? How would you have felt if the driver pressed charges against you (legally what you did was "assault"), or if she had a heart attack, or in her fear or resulting histeria rammed her car into someone on the sidewalk in an effort to get away from you?
Moreover, how would you feel if this was your daughter or your wife, who perhaps wasn't feeling well that day and made a mistake, resulting in a verbal tirade as you described? Worse is that your attack may result in constant fear in the lady, that you will now be looking for her or even stalking her; because in all likelyhood you know her car, her license plate number, and you do remember her description.
Sure, she was a bad driver and you were both watchful and skillful enough to avoid an accident, but what you did next was, in my opinion, foolish, self-centered, and intimidating. Certainly it was un-gentlemanly and lacked civility. While someone stated that the country is going to **LL, I think your actions only added to that claim.
But, it appears that you are not alone in your feelings. As I look back at some of the post that agreed with your actions, I see some mention of bigger, more intimidating individuals boasting of their "ability" to intimidate under such circumstances... interesting and a bit disconcerning. I wonder how they would feel if thier mistakes were met with such anger and perhaps a weapon in hand to balance the odds. This is NOT what civilized people do and I think we all need to put such things in perspective and learn to handle our anger and frustrations a bit better. Remember, you aren't the only one who can have a bad day... and, you're not the only one who may feel the odds are on thier side. (Like what are you going to do if this lady spots you and your daughter in the local shopping mall and points you out to her 6ft 4 husband?)
Respectfully,
CWS
I'm sorry, I hate bad drivers as much as anybody and will definitely use a few words and even go to lengths of getting their license number and reporting them to the authorities. But I also have some understanding of what some drivers go through and agree that maybe they shouldn't be driving. However, if you cannot contain your anger, maybe you shouldn't be driving either!
Would you have gotten out of your car and rampaged your anger if the driver had been a 6ft 3, 240 lb skinhead wearing a local gang tatoo? If the answer is "No", then you exercised your power of superiority in this situation. So, how is that right? How would you have felt if the driver pressed charges against you (legally what you did was "assault"), or if she had a heart attack, or in her fear or resulting histeria rammed her car into someone on the sidewalk in an effort to get away from you?
Moreover, how would you feel if this was your daughter or your wife, who perhaps wasn't feeling well that day and made a mistake, resulting in a verbal tirade as you described? Worse is that your attack may result in constant fear in the lady, that you will now be looking for her or even stalking her; because in all likelyhood you know her car, her license plate number, and you do remember her description.
Sure, she was a bad driver and you were both watchful and skillful enough to avoid an accident, but what you did next was, in my opinion, foolish, self-centered, and intimidating. Certainly it was un-gentlemanly and lacked civility. While someone stated that the country is going to **LL, I think your actions only added to that claim.
But, it appears that you are not alone in your feelings. As I look back at some of the post that agreed with your actions, I see some mention of bigger, more intimidating individuals boasting of their "ability" to intimidate under such circumstances... interesting and a bit disconcerning. I wonder how they would feel if thier mistakes were met with such anger and perhaps a weapon in hand to balance the odds. This is NOT what civilized people do and I think we all need to put such things in perspective and learn to handle our anger and frustrations a bit better. Remember, you aren't the only one who can have a bad day... and, you're not the only one who may feel the odds are on thier side. (Like what are you going to do if this lady spots you and your daughter in the local shopping mall and points you out to her 6ft 4 husband?)
Respectfully,
CWS
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