I arrived in an intersection. I had to stop, the cars crossing didn’t have to. I was turning right. The visibility was limited, because the intersection was located after a long turn. I couldn't see very well who was approaching. It was one of those where you have to stick the front of your car out a little bit to be able to see who’s coming.
I saw no one. I took my chance and released the brake pedal. Suddenly, a van appeared out of the turn and I quickly slammed on the brakes to stop. But my car was already invading the lane. The other driver had to slow down a bit and got furious. As he crossed in front of me, he angrily shouted stuff and threw a finger at me.
I felt embarrassed and gestured an apology because it was clearly my mistake; I hadn't seen him approaching so fast around the blind corner. After he crossed, I turned right and followed behind him. He was still cursing, and throwing his hands around.
When I stopped at the next stop light, I kept looking at his gestures and reflected on how ridiculous he looked. He resembled a child throwing a tantrum. I know it was my fault, but common, that was an exaggerated reaction. I had apologized and he was still able to cross the intersection safely after my slight interference.
Have you reacted similarly before? Only to realize how silly you feel and look afterwards?
I’ve done it. I've been in a situation where someone else made a mistake while driving, and I reacted in a similar way, out of frustration. But getting angry like that only made me look ridiculous, and it didn’t feel good either. It is objectively useless, my road rage didn’t fix the other driver’s mistake. It didn’t make them go faster. Anger, in this particular case, solves nothing.
Everyone is doing the best they can while driving. Some people get distracted or people make mistakes, you can't control that. Sometimes, we get it slightly wrong; it's inevitable. Even the best drivers make mistakes, so why let anger take over?
Reacting in such a way will only ruin precious minutes of your life. And you’ll look as ridiculous as that guy did. Don't allow your lower instincts to control you; you are the master.
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