You know you’re getting old when, apparently, you drive too slow. And somebody FREAKS over it. That’s the best explanation for what happened to me earlier today.
I was driving east on I-90, a route I have taken for more than ten years during my daily commute, first to Boeing and then to Microsoft. Usually an uneventful drive. Until today.
Crossing the I-90 Bridge, a vehicle swerved into the center lane, nearly clipping me. I backed off and avoided the crash. The vehicle then got in front of me and slowed. I backed off some more. The driver next moved over to the passing lane, almost pulling off entirely, his emergency blinkers on. Thinking he thought he’d accidentally clipped me, I moved up to wave him off. No harm, no foul.
He suddenly accelerated and swerved back into my lane. I moved over to the slow lane. Same game. He continued to do the swerve and sway all the way across the bridge, as if a provocation and a near crash solves anything. Ok, so this isn’t, um, about a near-accident. This is deliberately infantile behavior. Been there, done that. Sorry, dude; like all bullies, you ain’t worth acknowledging.
By this time, traffic had started to back up. I called 911. I was not the first; according to the dispatcher, several calls had already come in. Hell, they already had his vehicle ID. What an idiot.
I don’t know what happened next, except that the road rager exited to 405 South and I updated the WSP of that fact. I did not follow; I had a lunch appointment at Eastgate, just off I-90. The last thing I saw was a trooper get off I-90 eastbound and head west, back in the direction of 405. WSP dispatch told me they’d updated their officers.
Good. Hey, dude, we’re not all idiots, you know…
Oh yeah — and the person I was driving over to meet for lunch? Failed to show. Ok. Wow. Did I have the wrong day?