Raging drivers need relaxation strategies
by Tara Bordeaux reporter

    I can honestly say that road rage infuriates me.
I try to understand just what it is about the road that makes people lose their minds.

   I sometimes think people are put into a trance by the dotted yellow lines.

   Or maybe the roads they travel are covered with so many potholes that the constant pounding of their heads against the roof of their car starts to get to them after awhile.

   Either way, it is annoying to those of us just trying to get from one place to another.

   Many times a certain little bird has flown up at me from a driver in another car because I was following the speed limit. Or someone has tailgated me for miles instead of using common sense to pass me in the passing lane.

   Last I checked, the right lane is still the designated lane that the turtle drivers are allowed to tread on.

   But no matter what little two-second scenarios I have encountered, nothing prepared me for the night road rage came into my workplace. That night, I realized road rage was worse than I thought. The weather was bad, and the driving conditions were less than favorable.

   One of my delivery drivers was returning from a delivery, when out of nowhere, a man came in yelling and screaming at the driver.

   According to the man, the driver intentionally ran him off the road.
Now I know delivery drivers are commonly thought of as terrible drivers, but this particular driver would be lucky to out drive Miss Daisy.

   Still, the man was positive my driver tried to kill him, so he punched the driver in his chest.

   My manager tried to defuse the situation by apologizing to the man. She could barely finish her sentence before he took a swing at her, too.

   By this time, the entire crew had moved to the front of the store, and the man began to threaten every one of us.

   I felt so much anger toward this man for hitting my driver, and even a stronger rage for his going after a woman who had absolutely nothing to do with whatever did, or did not, happen to him on the road.

   Before we could get him out of the store, my boss managed a call to the police while he attempted to throw a check-scanning machine at her. I still do not know why the machine had to be punished, though.

   When we finally got the man out of the store, a few of us followed him to his car to make sure he was going to leave.

   At this point, I was still feeling really angry until I saw an elderly woman waiting in the car for the man.

   She looked terrified; I felt terrible.

   At that moment, everything that happened in the store seemed a distant blur. All I could think about was how many people were now affected by this man’s rage.

   An entire crew of workers who were simply doing their job, customers who witnessed the event and most of all, the frail woman who watched everything from the car were now all involved in a soon-to-be police investigation.

   And for what?

   There is no reason.

   The bottom line is that bad road conditions and a foggy rear view mirror caused a driving conflict during bad weather—conflict that the driver was not even aware he caused.

   If the man would have simply confronted the driver about the incident, and allowed the driver to apologize and let him know that he never even seen the man’s vehicle, the entire event would have been avoided.

   Instead, there are now legal problems, money damages and more anger.

   And I really do not understand any of it.
All I know, is that if you have a temper and are in an upset state of mind, you should not get behind the wheel. It is not fair to other drivers.

   But if you really must drive somewhere, then listen to some happy music.
 

  Puff the Magic Dragon always works for me.