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So, to start off...I did something bad/dumb/stupid today while I was in a parking lot. I was driving and I saw these 2 drivers yelling at each other. I didn't know what the situation was but i was 3-4 cars behind and I was just sitting. For some reason, I became so stupid that I decided to honk my horn. I thought the lady in front was just sitting there and retaliating and so I wanted to move. The lady in the front honked her horn back. I honked more aggressively afterwards like a crazy person. I even have a dashcam and when I went back and watched myself, I couldn't help it so I deleted the clip. The reason I felt bad was because as all the cars started to move, I saw that the first lady was stopped and trying to reverse park and she had her signal on. Afterwards, I kept thinking about how impatient I looked. In fact, a pickup passed me and told me "Easy there youngster, easy..." I felt so so so stupid. This wasn't really a mistake like cutting someone off on my part but just plain impatience.
Please people, tell me y'all have done stupid crap!
Oh yes, I've done stupid things on the road. We all have and anybody to tell you they haven't is flat out lying. I've mistakenly cut people off, pulled out in front of people, ran red lights, etc. Nothing intentional, however. I don't ever make it a point that I'm going to cut someone off or run a red light just because I'm aggressive and if you don't like it, get out of my way (I've heard that so many times that it makes me sick.)
The amount of "bad" stuff you do on the road can be limited if you are a good driver. We all make the occasional mistake, but for good drivers, those things should be few and far between. Usually, I witness so much bad driving on the roads that when I make a small mistake, I don't feel bad about it, because I'm still doing better than the other 99% of the drivers I see.
I had one the other day where a driver honked their horn at me and gave me the finger... Yet all would have been avoided had they just used their turn signal and communicated their intentions. I guessed (any reasonable person would have guessed the same) that they were going to turn right, but no, they decided to turn left, and I ended up turning in front of them so they had to hit the brakes.
Very rarely. If I do something stupid, I realize everyone does something stupid once in a while and I am just like any other human. I might apologize at the next light or something, especially if the other driver is mad. I used to get all mad and aggressive about other people's stupidity or nastiness, but eventually I realized:
1. Being nice is more fun, Avoids getting your blood pressure up and prevent escalations of issues into disputes.
2. It does not hurt to smile and wave or even apologize and thank them for yelling about what an idiot you are even if it was completely their fault. Actually by being very nice and self-deprecating, you sometimes cause them to realize they are being a D bag and they calm down and apologize. At least it stops escalating. There is no harm to you to tell the guy who just cut you off with no turn signal he is right, you are a terrible driver and should nto be on the road, sorry, have a nice day. Yelling back and telling him he was the one who was wrong, is nto going to convince him, not going to "teach him a lesson," not going to accomplish anything whatsoever. It won't make you feel better, and it may take time off your life by causing you to get more worked up.
3. Everyone makes mistakes. Some people are just D bags. But you cannot change them or teach them. Just get away from them and let it go, There is nothing you can do that will help you or anyone in any way (except maybe call 911 if they are being really cray). Cutting them off, not letting them in, waving and swearing at them - will not help you at all. And if it is me, I am laughing at you on the inside while I smile and tell you you are so right.
Although I try to remember these things, and try to never be a D-bag driver myself, sometimes I get too focused on being somewhat less late, or dodging potholes, or just fed up with traffic and stupidity, or I allow myself to become angry without realizing it. However that is extremely rare now.
I think it's like a driver's mentality. It's so hard to tell the person you cut off or who cut you off on why it happened.
For example if I cut you off , I might have not looked. My fault for sure. Of course you will honk your horn and possibility flip me off . Although I didn't mean to , I'll end up flipping you off because I felt you were rude. Not sure if what I said made sense.
But lets say I was walking down the store and cut you off. I'd be like, Sorry I didn't mean to. Then you'd probably accept my apology and we can go our day without yelling at each other.
The worse is when something happens and I'm about to curse at someone and see that it's an older person....
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