Road rage, the Amish, and Black Friday doorbusters
I knew a guy named Mike when I lived in Amish country that was a competitive cyclist and rode on country roads to train. One car-less afternoon, an Amish woman in her horse and buggy came up behind him while he was riding. The road was nearing a sharp turn and my friend sped up to avoid the danger of being pushed off the road at the nearly hair pin curve.
As he increased speed, so did the Amish woman.
It was an out-and-out race for the turn while the Amish woman yelled at her horse and flicked her whip over its ears (my friend was convinced he felt the air from the lash a time or two) as my friend peddled as fast as he could, not really believing that an Amish person was angry that he was trying to "beat" her to the bend. Mike won the race and got to the turn first. The Amish woman veered off onto another road a short distance past the curve.
Mike ran into the Amish woman on the same road again some time later, but her husband was driving the buggy that day. Mike let them pass and as they did the Amish man touched the brim of his black hat and Mike swore the wife flipped him off. Even the Amish get road rage.
Six and a half million Midwesterners are going to be driving this holiday weekend.
According to a recently released national survey, when a driver gets the finger, is cut off or tailgated, 50 percent of the victims respond with horn honking, yelling, cutting-off, and obscene gestures of their own. The only victim of my “retaliation” is my husband as I swear like a sailor and he tries to find something relaxing on the radio to distract me. People in cars can be so rude. In person, they would never get in someone’s face in a crowded line (hopefully). Unless it's someone in the “15-items-or-less” express lane with two cart loads.
Hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday week. And remember, if you are in line outside any national retailer at 4AM for the door busters on Friday, let the lady with the white bonnet go ahead of you. Despite appearances, those Amish can be nasty.
