And then there's the crazy ones

We had an encounter with a total nutcase this morning. On our way back from the park my husband pulled on to a residential street, speed limit 30 mph, and from about a block behind us a truck going probably 50 mph came flying up on our bumper. We were slowing down at that point because we were quickly approaching a stop sign. I don't know if this guy planned to run the stop sign or what but he came up on our tail and started screaming and throwing his arms up. Wade had just gotten a call from his best friend that lives in Colorado and he hardly ever gets to talk to him so he answered the phone and decided to chat while he drove home. The fact that he was on the phone made the guy even more enraged. He was grabbing the wheel and shaking back and forth, making the phone gesture and pretending to talk on the phone and was yelling and screaming the whole time. We just laughed a little and kept driving. He was behind us for a few more blocks and then was able to speed past us in another lane and yelled "learn to drive". We smiled and kept going our 30 mph. He swerved in in front of the people driving ahead of us and pulled into the turn lane. Funny that he did the same thing to the people in front of us that he claimed we did to him, and that resulted in the instructions "learn to drive"...Unfortunately it did not end there. We drove very slowly down our street, he sped ahead but ironically we passed him when he got stopped at a stoplight and happened to be in a lane with several more cars. We drove past him and he yelled "You're still on the phone?" and we just shook our heads. "He was watching in his rear view mirror that whole time, waiting for us to pass him" my husband said. It's true, what was his problem? Why do people become total maniacs in their vehicles? Obviously we did not slow him down, if he had stayed behind us he would have actually gotten home sooner. And, it isn't like he was rushing to do something. We know that because we discovered later on this afternoon that he is our neighbor. We saw him turn into a drive way after his tirade and when we returned home a few minutes later, we saw him working on his lawn. He was violently freaking out on us so that he could get home to do yard work.
I used to have a little road rage. I would do the "throw my hands in the air" thing when I was being tailgated and yell every now and then. But, I don't act like that anymore. See, several years ago someone that I loved very very much died of cancer. I was heartbroken when I heard the news, I had plenty of warning but could not accept that someone so young and healthy could be that sick. I drove to my best friends house for some comfort and was apparently driving too slow for a young woman behind me. She yelled at me, honked, and finally gave me the finger while passing me when I pulled into the turn lane. She didn't know that I was devastated, she didn't know anything about me, only that my driving was unacceptable and that flipping me off was the best way to resolve it.
So, I don't have road rage anymore. Sure I get ticked when someone pulls out in front of me or rides my bumper, but I always remember how I felt that day and it reminds me that even in a metal box, with wheels and a horn, we are still interacting with each other. We have no idea what someone else is going through. We are all just people.