There Ya Go
I’m well aware that there are people in this great city who, if given the opportunity, would like nothing more than to give me the “bird.” That’s OK.
No one person is liked by everyone. So if you feel inclined, go ahead, give me a fly-by. Take my word for it, it wouldn’t bother me.
Then there’s last Thursday. I attended our weekly Kiwanis meeting at Subway and had a nice shop-talk conversation with Seth Schmidt.
We heard a solid presentation by Tracy Community Development Director Tom Dobson, and by 1, we were all on our way.
I hopped in my Jeep and headed east back to the Headlight office. A car leaving Lewis Drug pulled out in front of me, which would usually get under my skin, but on this bright, sunny day and being in a rare good mood at the time, I let it slide. It’s not like I haven’t pulled out in front of others from time to time. Face it, we all have done it.
So I went on my way, only to notice two young girls walking toward downtown along Morgan St. They were goofing around a little as all kids do, but got out a bit too far from the curb, forcing me to slow down again. Fine, no big deal. They were kids after all.
Again, I slowly accelerated and swerved to my left to prevent an accident.
Then I looked in my rearview mirror.
One of the girls — 9, maybe 10 — was apparently so aggravated with my safe driving that she whipped out her middle finger and proudly stuck it staight up in the air.
Excuse me? Normally, as I said, I wouldn’t let getting flipped off bug me, but for some reason, this one did.
So I stopped. I knew no one was behind me, so no big deal. I kept looking in my mirror and saw the girls abruptly turn around and race back toward the Food Pride area. And I stayed there in the middle of the road. Part of me wanted to back up to really scare them, but I didn’t.
Why did this bird bother me while others don’t?
Well, for starters, it was a kid, damn it! How on earth can that be justified by anyone? I’m no prude, but c’mon. Is this where we are with our children? Is this what we’re teaching them?
Ahhh, kids. They can inspire pride for parents one day and can be as annoying as a “Kars4Kids” radio ad the next.
I know young ones make mistakes and should be given the benefit of the doubt most of the time, but to be so disrespectful where flipping someone the bird just because is a common reflex — well, that’s intolerable.
What if I wasn’t who I am — a mildmannered, nice-guy dude?
What if I was some pissed off, frustratedwith- life, middle-aged man who needed just one more crappy thing to happen to me to set me off? I don’t get it.
I’m 99.9% sure this kid will never read this, but if you are, little girl, take my advice: Don’t ever flip a motorist off. Ever. Even if he or she might have it coming, it’s just not right and could get you into some deep trouble.
I ended up laughing at the whole incident a few hours later, but it stuck with me. Being on the receiving end of the bird by someone you don’t know isn’t the end of the world, but we need to teach our children better.
I don’t know if kids that age have yet to develop the part of their brain that keeps them from disrespecting their elders, but there are enough people out there who would respond in a much more dangerous fashion than I did.
That’s the scary part.
