I Sure Showed Him

I was cut off in traffic the other morning.   Well, maybe 'cut off' is too strong a term.   Let's say I was inconvenienced by the rude and illegal behavior of another driver.   I was waiting at a red light, needing to take a left turn.   I was watching the lights for the opposing traffic and was aware when their green light shifted to yellow and finally to red.   Just as my light turned green, this car enters the intersection from the right.   I'd seen this guy coming so I'd been a little hesitant to take my turn.   As he entered the intersection, he turned right.   So, technically he didn't cut me off as we should have both been able to execute our turns simultaneously.   He did, however, break the law as he ran the red light (and failed to signal his turn).   I was inconvenienced because I had to wait for him since I didn't know he was going to turn.

As I entered the intersection, I watched his taillights heading up the road in front of me.   I was mildly annoyed but usually I just keep this sort of thing to myself.   This time, I figured I'd let him know that I was not happy.   I'd give him a little shot of the high beams before I made my turn.   Just send a little message to the miscreant.   As I mentioned, I usually don't do this sort of thing for fear of winding up on the receiving end of some ugly road rage incident.   In this particular case, however, I figured even if I did anger him, I'd be long gone before he could even get turned around.   It was the ideal situation for some "light" retribution.

All of this reasoning and deciding happened in an instant.   I had very little time to decide and then act.   After all, I was moving, he was moving.   Once the decision was made, I hastily reached down, grabbed the lever and gave it a couple of quick tugs.   What the heck, if I'm going to flash him once, I might as well flash him twice.   That'll teach him real good.

Sadly, in my haste I grabbed the wrong lever.   Instead of flashing my high beams, I squirted washer fluid on my windshield.   I guess I could rationalize that, figuratively, I spat at him.   I'm not sure he got the message, though.