I watched with interest this morning as a woman followed a man into the parking lot of the West Anaheim Substation.  I was visiting with the Director of the West Anaheim Youth Center at the time.   The scene unfolded rather rapidly as the man parked in the parking lot and a woman pulled her vehicle beside his and jumped out of the car, running to his window—which he quickly rolled up!—and she proceeded to berate him and inform him that he had just pulled directly in front of her causing her to slam on her brakes and screech her tires, which she said frightened her daughter who was a passenger in her vehicle.  She actually had two children in the vehicle with her but one had become frightened which angered and frightened the mother. 

By this time we had approached the two of them and the Director expertly calmed the woman down and got her to go back to her vehicle.  The man went into the Center to handle some business while the woman was being calmed down and by the time he returned the woman had gone.  She had been so angry with the man for pulling out in front of her—which he should not have done and she certainly wanted him to know that—and in her anger with him for frightening her daughter she put herself in a dangerous situation.  The other driver might easily have done her physical harm, especially when she began to scream and curse at him, and then what would her children have witnessed?    Had they seen a fight between the two drivers, or if even greater violence had occurred, what memories would they have had of that?  When the woman considered this she was moved to tears so more conversation was had to allow her to compose herself and be capable of safely driving her vehicle and her precious cargo. 

When the man returned to his vehicle, he was oblivious to and denied what he had done.  He insisted that he had plenty of room to make his entrance onto the roadway from his driveway.  His concern was that as he drove along the street, this woman was tailgating him and then driving right beside him dangerously close.   We concluded that neither driver “got it” but perhaps they would be more careful in the future. 

I mention this to remind all of us of the highly charged atmosphere that exists on our streets as well as our highways.  Even when we might justify our anger, it can still get us into even more trouble than we previously had. 

My wife was driving along a freeway a number of years ago when she noticed that her passenger rear view mirror had been pushed inward and she could no longer see in it (I quickly tightened it up when I learned of it).  To correct the problem she picked up the theft prevention bar we had purchased—a chromed bar about three feet long—and proceeded to roll down the passenger window and use the bar to push the mirror out so she could see.  As she raised that bar up she noticed that the vehicle to her right immediately slowed and moved to the right.  As he drove up beside her a minute later he looked at her and grinned and raised his hand as if it were a gun.  She realized then that he had become frightened when she raised that metal bar thinking it was a gun she was aiming at him!   She laughed as did he and they moved on down the roadway.  This again illustrates the level of anxiety felt by some in driving situations. 

So to my friendly police officers I say, “Be careful out there because you’re working around a bunch of nuts!”  And to all of us I would encourage a bit of caution as we traverse our roadways and admonish us to hold our tempers when others might act in ways we would consider rude and unsafe.  To, from a distance, ask “did you realize. . .” may sometimes be appropriate when done in a friendly and safe way.  But there’s never a situation where putting ourselves in additional danger is a smart thing to do.