Venting about Road Rage

I want to tell you all about my wonderful weekend with family in Spokane, but first I have to vent.

I was riding my bike to work today. It is beautiful out and I was enjoying the ride around Greenlake. When I got just past the Greenlake Library, there was a guy parked in the bike lane so I had to pull out into traffic to go around him. As I passed the SUV I said "Thank you" in a slightly sarcastic tone (who me?). There were plenty of parking spots open across the road. I don't know if he thought I said something different, or if he just had a total anger management problem, but he pulled up at the stop sign in the left hand turn lane--I was going straight--and yelled "Why don't you go f*** y0urself?" I replied "Glad you have your own lane all to yourself" and rode on, thinking that was the end of it. However, about a half mile further he passed me then pulled into the bike lane and stopped. I passed him and said "I don't know what your problem is, but you need to get over it." I didn't hear anything back from him, but I had a feeling he was going to do it again. Luckily a cop was parked just ahead and I yelled to him that he should "watch this guy." Then I pulled off the main road and walked my bike for a bit to get my heart back to the correct speed.

I made a few mistakes here; not getting the guys license plate number, not stopping to talk to the cop, not calling 911. Not being sarcastic in the first place would have made the whole thing not even happen. I don't feel like there was anything wrong with me being irritated with the guy parking in "Bike Only" lane, or that I should have "shut up and taken it" though. But I have to admit that it would have made my morning commute much less nerve wracking.

The fact that he was willing to go out of his way to follow me when he was going to turn left. His over reaction with language--I never once swore at him, but I heard many choice words coming from his automobile, beside the sample I gave you above. This was an angry man and it really affected me--my heart was beating much harder and faster than usual and I felt flustered for about an hour. Taking the walk also made me late for work.

I know it is over reacting, but all morning I feel like I am going to see the guy around a corner, or that he is going to be on the phone when I answer it. That feeling is already fading, but it is frightening to me to have felt that way at all.

I talked to the police after I calmed down to find out what I should have done. She asked me why I didn't call 911. I told her because I wasn't sure if it was a crime, or if I was over reacting. She said I should have called and gotten his license place number. In the future, I will know what to do, and as GI Joe says "knowing is half the battle."