i didn't appreciate that

this afternoon i decided to head out and look for a few things, and after picking up the paper, i headed out towards danvers to check a few things. silly me missed the ramp to get onto rte93, but i didn't care too much as it just meant i went a more direct (albeit a little slower) route to get over to 128.

i'm driving along, a mother with child pulls out in front of me (plenty of room, i wasn't going that fast, no arguement from me here) and after going a block, she goes to take a left. i'm fine with that (actually, the turn i usually take to go home). only this time, i'm watching oncoming traffic and out of the corner of my eye, i see in my mirror a large grille coming at me (trust me, it's a LOT bigger in person than it is in that picture). fast. the first thing that goes thru my mind is "don't you fucking think about it. i just paid off my loan, i don't want another one." then i think about the kid in the backseat of the car in front of me because while i'm not close, and both of us are at a stop, the odds are pretty good at the rate she was going, i would have hit the back end of the car in frotn of me.

fortunately, the bitch driving the fucking behemoth of a car hits the brakes and swerves to the left.

as she's doing that, i'm thinking again "oh fuck, she's going to hit me in the back left of my just paid off car and i haven't received my title yet."

FINALLY, she comes to a stop, and the car that was ONcoming has to slow down and swerve to miss getting nailed by her too. i'm watching all of this in my mirrors, and i can see the outline of heads in the back seat of HER car.

so i could have hit a car with a kid in it.

she had kids in her car.

this could have been one hell of a clusterfuck. and i would have been livid, not just because she would have creamed my newly paid off car, but that she endangered several kids (hers included) in the whole mess.

thankfully, nothing happened. the final thought i had in those few seconds was that i was about to become a statistic of being involved in some sort of car accident within a 5 mile radius of home.

i deliberately kept my pace slow once we started going and when she tried to swing wide around me at a rotary, i drifted a little more left to keep her from swinging around me (again, another safety issue) and on 128, i moved to keep myself away from her. at one point she did pass me (on the right, again, a no-no) and we both looked at each other and i had a hard time keeping from gesturing at her. but i figured i'd be the bigger man.

fucking bitch.

then, as i'm just past the 95 split, on the southbound side i see a pair of 18-wheelers, one of which has a crane or something holding the trailer up, and a lot of the contents are stacked up on the side of the road.

and THEN, right before the exit for peabody, there was a 3 car accident (pick up rear ended, sedan crushed, 3rd car off to the side, front crunched). as we were waiting for the merge to single file, a guy in a jeep cherokee went blowing by, apparently the husband of the woman whose car was crushed. it looked as tho there were no injuries, but i couldn't help but think that things are pretty fucked up today if i'm nearly involved in an accident, an 18-wheeler needing assistance (i was guessing the crane was there to right the truck after rolling) and then the 3 car accident.

i'd just like to say this - SLOW DOWN and be mindful of the drivers around you.

if you need to yell at your kids while driving, pull over. don't do it while driving too fast and are about to crash into me. think when you drive. use your head. remember, when you don't, you not only endanger yourself, but EVERYONE around you, including anyone in your car.