Don’t you dare honk at us, we’re talking!

I happened to get behind a car with three or four young people during rush hour traffic this past Wednesday. We were on a major artery of traffic, Stuebner-Airline where it crosses FM 1960. The light changed and I could see the young woman in the driver seat was too busy talking to a young man in the passenger seat, too busy to notice that traffic was moving ahead while her vehicle sat idle. I tapped lightly on the horn to catch her attention and the young man in the passenger seat put is arm out the window and flipped me off as the young woman looked in the mirror, as if to say, “Don’t you dare honk at us, we’re talking!”

A couple of intersections down the road I had the misfortune of getting into the left turn directly behind the same vehicle while waiting for the light to change. These young people could be seen chattering away and not paying attention to traffic as the light changed indicating it was safe to turn left. I waited a “three count” before tapping my horn to get their attention; time was running out for a chance to proceed. The young man put his arm out the window and held it with his middle finger extended. “How dare you honk at us, again, while we’re talking; we’ll show you a thing or two!”


Their vehicle made the left turn; but instead of moving along in a normal fashion, they decided to play the blockade game. They moved down the road never going faster than fifteen mile an hour, all the while flipping me off and taunting me to attempt to pass them; knowing that it would not be possible in rush hour traffic. I was happy to see them turn off at the first opportunity; even so, I have to wonder what these young people have been taught.

I must be maturing, at least a little. I was on my way to serve at the temple and refused to sink to their level. In my younger days, like this past Tuesday, there might have been a much different outcome than my waving and smiling at their inappropriate behavior. This is not to say that should they pull that kind of stunt during the rest of the week I might not revert to a more primitive mindset; after all, I’m a work in progress with plenty of room for improvement. A night or two in jail might be worth teaching those little jerks some manners.

(Just as a note: The new Blogger version is acting more than a little strange this evening. The tool bar has no means of changing the style or size of text.)