June 20, 2002 - Vol. 5 - Issue 2
You know, history is absolutely amazing. I'd like to know the guy who said: "Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat the past's mistakes." So that may not be the correct quote, but you get the idea. I have determined that all the studying in the world will amount to nothing. As a race, scratch that, as a species, we are most certainly doomed to extinction at our own hand. Why? Well this could be a long philosophical discussion with many viewpoints, but I will show one example and how that I interacted with it. The example? "Road Rage."
Road Rage by Webster's definition: "Violent behavior exhibited by drivers in traffic, often as a manifestation of stress." See, it's even in the dictionary. The auto is a wonderful invention (please bear with me on this - I'm using an allegory here) and we use it everyday in some form or another. The way it has effected our life is incredible and yet very sad. For as many examples of how the auto is a lifesaver you can find almost as many that show how the auto has taken lives. I was a first time witness to road rage yesterday and it shocked me to my core because I found so hard to believe. Don't get me wrong, I've flipped the bird or muttered under my breath when someone has cut me off, not yielded the right of way or offended my driving skills in some fashion. Oh yeah, would I love to have a set of twin .50 cals mounted on the top of the car. Cut me off? Take that! BUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPP! No more trunk, rear wheels and back seat for you! Ok, so it's fun to imagine, but what if I really did have that? Would I use it? Nah, but what about if they were PAINTBALL GUNS!! OH YEAH!! SSSSPPPPPPLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAATTT! Followed by them dying in a fiery car accident because you scared the shit out of them, which caused them to swerve into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer.... ooops.
Back to the matter at hand. As me and wife are headed to see the realtor, Mr. Tricked-Out Ford Bronco pulls out of somewhere cutting off Mr. Shiny Black Chevy S-10. Mr. S-10 takes offense to this by honking, screaming and making some very lewd gestures. Mr. Bronco retorts by offering a lewd hand gesture of his own and reducing his speed to a casual "I'm touring the area" speed of 5 miles an hour. Mr. S-10 has obviously been pushed to his limit. He passes Mr. Bronco on the right side (on the shoulder) at high rate of speed and cuts him off (blocking ALL traffic behind him). After cutting him off, Mr. S-10 stops his truck and climbs out, and by his speech, dress, and ethnicity has proven him to be named Mr. Gino and based on what we've seen of Mr. Bronco, his name should be Mr. LeRoy. (Yeah I know I'm racially profiling, but like I said we're doomed anyways.) So Mr. Gino is pretty enraged at this point and is taunting Mr. LeRoy to get out of his truck. When he refused to do so, Mr. Gino approached Mr. LeRoy and called him, and I quote, "FUCKING NIGGER" and then spit on him. At that point Mrs. Gino got out of the truck and told him to get back in, which he did, but not before taunting and hollering some more. Mr. Gino then spun his tires throwing gravel all over Mr. LeRoy in his tricked-out Bronco.
At this point Mr. LeRoy seemed to take offense and pulled over to the shoulder as if trying to decide whether or not he could whip Mr. Gino or perhaps it was to wipe the saliva off.. As traffic began to move again, I too, pulled over on the side of the road, discussing with the wife if maybe would should take down plate numbers and call the police. I had witnessed an obvious assault, but I was unsure of what would happen if a bystander should enter the fray or offer assistance. After a minute, my self-preservation kicked in and since Mr. LeRoy wasn't moving I figured he wasn't going to do anything and we went on our way.
It wasn't until later as I was reflecting on that incident that came to my epiphany. Mr. Gino was so mad that rather then call him anything else, he chose to slander him based solely on his skin color. All over an impolite vehicular maneuver and some accompanying hand gestures. Nothing was said about anything personal, it was simply because Mr. Gino did not like the treatment he got from another driver. (On a side bet, I think that Ms. Gina in the truck with him, may have contributed to his overall mood). Don't get me wrong, I've heard "Nigger" used quite a bit in my rather short life, but for some reason it struck me differently then any other time that I have heard in music, movies, TV, etc., etc.. Maybe it's because I would never, ever do something like that. I don't know, I'm still puzzling this one out.
This brings me to my doomed point. We are done for, at least until someone can show me something that proves different. Am I being a bit cynical? Yep. For all the good that is done, there is always a little bad. This was my spot of bad and I think it may have scarred me just a smidge. Nothing major, nothing even noticeable, but enough that I can only wonder about the actions of one individual on a planet with 3.5+ billion people who interact in some fashion every day. I will hold out hope that we are not alone in the universe because it will be a really quite place until someone or something happens along to fill the void.
I’m done for today. If you can, Consider yourself "Bitched at."
