Sweet revenge

Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:58 pm

When I was younger, I often got very angry of other drivers, that did not do good to me (or I perceived so). Sometimes, a person cutting in front of me would make me almost lose my mind. Or some oldie sitting in the left lane below speed limit would drive me nuts.

Since I was driving good cars and bikes I was almost always able to take my turn and try and offend the other driver. If he cut in front of me, I would cut in front of him and brake, If he did not let me pass, I would position myself in front of him and gradually slow down way below his original speed. This let me feel much better about initial incident – I paid them off at the end, didn’t I?

Over time a couple of thoughts started to gradually sink into my mind - whoever cuts in front would be responsible for an accident, if it happened, and – if I delay the other guy, I delay myself, too. This made me somewhat uneasy about doing such things, and satisfaction I used to have diminished dramatically. I kept this practice however for quite a while, until another thought came to me: I don’t have to add to the insult I got from others. I do myself more harm than good if I take revenge, be it a higher risk of an accident I would be responsible for in cutting in front of other driver, or be it an extra delay on my way.

And when I fully digested this idea and let it join my ego, I stopped taking revenge. Those incidents still annoy me, and every now and then I go for revenge still. But it is nowhere near that intense and nowhere near that often it used to be. And I have to be already pretty irritated before the incident, for this to happen.

Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:35 pm

And you know what is really interesting about this - those incidents' frequency is nowhere near what it used to be. This makes me thinking that I learned my lesson about revenge on the road, and the Universe does not push it on me anymore Wink

Driver Joined: Sep 25, 2006 Posts: 107

Call it old age, good sense, or wussyness.. but I just don't care anymore. While in heavy traffic I always leave a lot of room between me and the car in front. 10 minutes later, I'm maybe 10 cars back from the car that was originally in front of me.

I get stuck in stop-and-go highway traffic a lot. My latest hobby has been trying to judge the overall speed of the traffic, set my speed at that, and completely neutralize the wave pattern by traveling at a constant speed. This, again, ends with me 10 cars back from the one I was originally tailing, but its a GREAT skill to have when I drive stick. (I'd reference the web page that gave me the idea, but I don't remember it)

Don't get me wrong. I also use my horn a lot, mainly in anger, when someone does something incredibly stupid that puts me at risk. I'd give my left nut for a push-button device that reaches through time and space to smack the offending driver upside the head. Very Happy

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 1:34 am

I would have killed you when I was younger Shoot

Not anymore, but sometimes such kind of behavior still pisses me off. Not often, though. And I never thought it is really possible to neutralize wave pattern, because it does not have fixed "wave length". But if you tried, you know better, and I might give it a try when in the mood. Wink

Actually, I meant different type of "cutting in front" - when someone moving slower than you jumps into your lane suddenly in front of you, and you have to brake to avoid a collision...