An incident happened to me a short time ago which reflects on the nature of life in our society today. I work for a living; presently I’m employed as a substitute teacher by several San Jose school districts. I have a teaching credential and another degree besides, but no job can I find while these hard economic times linger.
On the morning in question, I was to report to Linda Vista School which is nestled in the eastern foothills. If one goes up Alum Rock Avenue towards Alum Rock Park, you will eventually see Kirk Avenue and, off to the left a block or so, that’s where the school is to be found.
The distance from the intersection of White-and-Alum-Rock up to Kirk is about a mile or so; there are several smaller streets to the left and right as one heads eastward, toward the hills, as I was doing this particular morning. A red pickup truck in front of me caught my eye because of its absolutely filthy exhaust system.
From its tailpipe came a thick column of dark smoke, reminding one of a skywriting airplane–except the color was a very dirty brownish-black color rather than white. I assumed this driver had installed no such sky-writing equipment and what I was witnessing was one of the worst cases of an air-polluting pickup truck I had ever seen. The image of a squid also came to mind: that worthy sea animal that emits a billowy cloud of ink and escapes its predators thusly!
The pickup truck slowed to turn left on to one of those smaller streets and had to wait for the oncoming downhill traffic to clear. There was just enough room for me to pass to the right side and as I did so I beeped my horn three times to let him know I was passing . . . and that his tail-pipe exhaust was filthy and needed attending. The man driving the pickup completed his turn and I proceeded up Alum Rock to Kirk, to get in the left-turn lane and wait for the green arrow.
As the light switched to green and I started the turn, I became aware of another car behind me suddenly speeding up and trying to pass on the left. There is room for a car to do so at this point though it is generally an ill-advised action and can only be completed by driving on the left side of the roadway. If no other car is coming from the opposite direction, it can move to the left and zoom around a car. I slowed down to facilitate the other driver’s reckless passing maneuver.
That’s when the shackles on the back of my neck sent a warning signal to me that all was not well. I got a glimpse of red and then the driver, about to pass on the left, suddenly swerved right towards me. It was the same red pickup truck with the dirty exhaust I had seen earlier and the man behind the wheel was making a concerted effort to sideswipe me and force me off the road!
A second time he came within inches, angling his car ahead of mine and to the right, trying to force me to stop. Indeed, I had no choice but to hit the brakes and come to a complete stop but I did not feel like talking to this man: this maniac, really!
I surmised that any driver who would act in such an irresponsible manner was not likely to make a good conversationalist. He was plainly seeking a confrontation and a fight. For my part I only wished to get to the school, already in sight from where I was, to start my work for the day.
My gut feeling told me that this guy probably did not have a debating trophy from Harvard at home on a shelf. If he was going to debate anything, it would likely be with his fists and my face.
Although dangerous, I decided to attempt the only driving maneuver that seemed open to me at the time in order to try and escape the precarious situation in which I found myself. I put the car in reverse and began backing up towards Alum Rock Avenue. The driver in the red pickup truck hung a furious U-turn, intending to give chase.
Luck was with me and I did not cause an accident. With the car still in reverse, I went around the corner (up the hill) and waited; this stymied the other driver as he had no easy way to chase me now unless he committed a gross violation of the usual traffic rules . . . and in front of other drivers as witnesses. He finally drove off, still furious and no doubt cursing a blue streak.
When safe, I turned right on Kirk and drove the last couple of hundred yards to the school. I was thoroughly shaken up by the incident although everything had happened so fast there had barely been enough time for fear or panic. It was all instinctive react-and-survive behavior.
I thought briefly of trailing the pickup truck to try and get the license plate number for the police, then immediately thought better of this plan as unnecessarily fraught with danger.
I had avoided the violent confrontation this man had intended by a narrow enough margin as it was! And was all this commotion over my three short beeps as I had passed him? Perhaps it was stupid on my part but I was only hoping to draw his attention to my car’s position on the road and to remind him of the filthy noxious exhaust gases his pickup was spewing into the air.
I could never have predicted he would react in such a violent manner. And this is the incident that has led me to reflect on life today in America. While I was possibly in the wrong to beep my horn, does not the other driver’s response seem all out of proportion to the offense? Trying to sideswipe a car to get revenge, even if it cost a crash with injuries?
It is commonly said that there is too much violence in society today, much of it “senseless”. Until that morning, I never fully comprehended exactly what this statement meant. Must citizens of our great nation face the risk of bodily injury over an ill-advised horn-beep?
I realize that the vast majority of drivers are peaceful and law-abiding. Nonetheless, that this man could have so utterly lost his sense of a balanced perspective really shook me up. He was willing to take the law into his own hands like a vigilante to serve up his personal brand of justice.
I can only caution everyone to be doubly careful and not let some minor action or careless word lead to a physical confrontation. There is enough “road rage” out there already. If “the price of liberty is eternal vigilance”, as Jefferson said, then we must renew our vows to preserve liberty.
We must renew our respect for reason, for law, and for the rights of others. It is only this respect and this commitment to democratic thought that can defeat all the drivers of red pickup trucks who have a hair-trigger temper and no sense of moral obligation to society.
It is this message that I will carry with me into the classroom and none other. The democratic way is our nation’s pledge and the only philosophy that works! Hence, it is better for me to write this reflection than to have engaged in fisticuffs.
The man did not succeed in intimidating me but, rather, has led me to redouble the energy and resolve with which I will defend American democracy and fair play forever. No bully in a red pickup truck can ever change that resolve to the slightest degree!
