foiled plans

No, not mine!

Just wanted to post about something that happened to me last week while driving through Austin on I-35. In certain areas of the city on the interstate it can be a challenge for people trying to merge into the traffic--short ramps and bumper-to-bumper cars. I always try to leave at least a tractor trailer length space open in front of me in traffic jams because it's just easier on my nerves to do that rather than having to constantly brake hard due to people realizing that their exit is the one we're currently driving by.

Well last week I noticed an older suv that seemed to be having an exceptionally difficult time merging in even in spots that were more than wide enough for them to get over in. Even when I opened up an even larger space in front of me than normal they still wouldn't get over. This is 1630ish so traffic is the usual stop and go at speeds below 40 mph. I'm assuming that they wanted me to move over a lane but that was not going to happen because of all the cars on my drivers side blocking that lane. Short of coming to a full-on stop I couldn't do any thing else to allow them anymore room to merge over.

After driving by them I watched the action in my side mirror while they come to a dead stop at the end of the ramp then pull out directly in front of another car almost causing a rear-end accident. They finally get on the freeway and move over into the middle lane (I'm still watching them when I can because of their erratic driving) and I notice that the driver and passenger are gesturing wildly in the direction of my truck. At this point I realize that I'm being blamed for their inability to navigate/comprehend the interstate on-ramp system and I just knew that they were planning some retribution.

What people do with this mindset in order to get even when they feel they've been wronged is too swerve over and slam on their brakes. So I was more than prepared when the driver proceeded to do exactly that, you should have seen the look on their faces when I was already slowing down when they tried to "get even". It was even more hilarious when I smiled and waved at them, I wish y'all could have seen the frustrated expressions! Anyway I guess it was enough to discourage them and they left me alone after that thank goodness.

By the way, it's not too smart to pull in front of a big truck that can weigh up to 80,000 lbs (I was at 60,000 that day) and slam on your brakes. Just think about the laws of physics.