So Angry

These stories are the way I remember them after a couple of beers on a Friday night after a tough week. They are mostly accurate and the names of all parties have been changed to protect the innocent, or er the not so innocent!



Russell, a really good guy, found himself embroiled in traffic early on that fateful Friday. Needing to change lanes, he indicated and was mildly surprised to see the guy next to him open up a space. Without wasting a moment, he nosed his car into the gap, giving the guy a salute of thanks in the process. When he looked up he realised the car in front of him had stopped and so he hit the brakes and swerved out into the emergency lane just to make sure.


The chap in the car in front of him suddenly went wild. Insults containing enough expletives for an average Tupak song poured out of the window. Russell was not too perturbed by this display of great manners; even when the English fellow in question went on to rubbish all South African drivers. Then this driver did the unthinkable, he flipped the bird! That got Russell moving. For some reason the bird just made him see red. His seatbelt was off in an instant, car door open, and then there he was at the window of the car in front. As luck with have it, the traffic moved forward, as did the window in front of Russel.


That did not stop him jumping in his car and chasing the offending middle finger using English driver for the next five minutes. Luckily for Mr English, a nifty jumping of a red traffic light lost him a red hot pursuer. Who came to his senses wondering what on earth he was doing.


Road rage on a Friday morning, who would have thought?

Then Bob, another awesome mate of mine, related an eerily similar story about his morning. He was standing outside of his factory when he saw a supplier parked across the road at another business. This particular supplier’s service had recently hit rock bottom despite a number of frank conversations. As a result, his services had been replaced by one more able.

Being a good guy, Bob waved at supplier. Supplier flipped the bird. Bob saw red. Bob would have taken the matter further had supplier not been driving away at top speed.

Two birds flipped and two instant rage moments in two incredibly placid mates in just one morning. What are the chances? What is it with the bird that it sparks such violent reactions? Both felt absolutely terrible and so we grabbed our families and went out to dinner to try and make a bad day good.

And I think we succeeded too!