Sunday, April 21, 2024
When we got home last night, we assumed Sean and Benjamin were still at her parents’ house after dinner. We watched a little TV and went to bed. This morning, we found out that they had spent many, many hours at the emergency vet at the U of M because Eggs ate some of my lily. I learned when we were down in Madison that lilies are very toxic to cats, and then promptly forgot. The lily is done blooming and is just leafy and sitting in front of the patio door, waiting for warm enough time to come for it to be planted outside.
Benjamin and Sean took both kitties to the vet. They both stayed overnight, but Oatmeal was released in the morning. Eggy had to stay an extra 24 hours for observation. His kidney function tests were not good. It was very, very sad and stressful. The afternoon report was that he was having no symptoms and was resting fine; more bloodwork will come in the morning.
In trying to get my mind off the kitty, I decided to make split pea soup out of the ham bone left from lunch. I needed all the veggies, so I went to Sam’s, then was going to stop at Jerry’s (they sound more like people I am borrowing food from than grocery stores). I went through a roundabout, signaled to turn right, followed the car in front of me doing the same thing, and a car from behind me stomped on his horn. It was very loud and long. None of my gazillion little blind spot, someone is by you, lights were on, so I was rather startled that he was zooming up behind me so fast, when the roundabout speed limit if 15. I pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car.
BAM BAM BAM!
He followed me and was pounding on my window with his fist. I opened the door and he started shouting that I should not have cut him off! Did I think that I needed to cut across all those lanes just to get where I wanted to go?! I said, I was sorry that I had no idea I cut him off. He swore and told me I was blind if I couldn’t see his bright white Mercedes SUV. There was more profanity, so I joined in at the end of the “conversation”. I was afraid for my safety, and the safety of my car, so I left the lot without shopping.
Keith and I drew pictures of the intersection to try to figure out where he came from and how he thought I cut him off. The only reasonable ideas we had were either that he was speeding and joined the roundabout a quarter of my way through, or that he came in the outside lane straight across, which is not a way to do the roundabout. I am glad I do not know him in real life and that I do not have to see him again.
I finally got outside today to see our daffodils. I picked a few and they are the potd.
I think it would be very hard to live a life in which I thought it was important to follow someone’s car., beat on the windows and yell at them. I would like to believe that this person had a really hard day long before he even got close to the intersection, and your only sin was that you were there when he was in a very bad mood. That makes him more human to me.
When I see aggressive drivers, I am always thankful that I do not such a stressful life that I need to drive so inappropriately. I will be doubly happy that I have never considered pounding on someone’s window
I don’t think it’s appropriate for anyone to follow someone, beat on their windows, and shout at them no matter what’s going on in their life.
At least weekly, some driver around me does something they shouldn’t (in a hundred different ways). I often will mutter something to myself (or to the passenger near me) when I’m driving, but I can’t even imagine a situation in which I would do what this guy did. Road rage like that is just not acceptable.
It does make me wonder if a day after it happens, he thought to himself, “Well, I sure put her in her place.”, or “I wish I knew who that was so I could apologize.”, or if it was completely out of his head because it was so normal and commonplace to him that it was a non-incident the next day.