misinterpretation Living in a high traffic area such as Atlanta, you will invariably encounter an inconsiderate driver. Someone that weaves in and out of traffic, rides their brakes, fails to signal before turning or changing lanes. Not that this phenomenon is specific to Atlanta, you just happen to see more of it due to sheer volume.

And it would take little more than a simple gesture to alleviate the possible road rage that this type of behavior can manifest.

The problem only gets worse if something as simple as a courtesy wave is ignored. If I'm dealing with harrowing experience of rush hour and get cut off, or in a gesture of good will, leave enough space to let you over into my lane, and I don't receive the little wave of apology/thanks, then I make it a point not to let anyone else into my lane for the remainder of my travels that day. This option forces me to tailgate the vehicle in front of me, which we all know is an unsafe driving practice.

So those of you who fail to recognize the benevolence of the driver that gave you a little extra space to traverse the lanes of the interstate highway, heed my warning. This only makes me drive a bit more unsafe. Endangering not only my life, but those of the passengers/drivers in the cars around me. I now become the asshole.

However, some times the gesture of good will can be misinterpreted. Case in point: years ago (high school I believe) I was a passenger with a buddy of mine. I'm sure that my buddy was in the wrong and probably cut off a fellow driver, but the impetus of a youth who just recently received his license cannot be ignored and is hard to convince otherwise. For whatever reason, the other driver felt as if he had been wronged. My buddy realizing he had made a mistake, offered up the courtesy wave in apology. The problem was, the other driver claims that what he received was just a one finger salute as we hotrodded our way away. How do I know that this is what the other driver was thinking? Well, he followed us to our destination, confronting my buddy and raising quite a stink about it. Now this was before the time that the term "road rage" had become popular, so what we were dealing with was just a pissed off older guy who thought he had been affronted with the middle finger of doom.

All I'm saying is try to be nice to the other people on the road. You know the saying "do unto others......." blah, blah, blah. Besides if you do, it'll keep me from appearing in your rear view mirror, trying to climb into your car through it's tailpipe.  ¶ 9:48 AM