"Stupid Kid!"

Last night, I had to drive The Girl to the gym for gymnastics. I left about two minutes later than usual, but it only takes about 10 minutes to get to the gym and I typically leave 15 minutes before practice, so those two minutes didn't really matter.

About three-quarters of the way to the gym, traffic came to a screeching halt. I could not see, from where I was, if there was an accident or if it was just traffic. We inched along for a bit and I saw the blue flashing lights. They were toward the middle of the road, so I decided the far right lane was, in fact, the preferred lane. Besides, I had to make a right turn to get to the gym.

We inched along for a while. Actually, we inched along for a lot of whiles, but that is beside the point. While inching along, I was playing with my phone. I do that sometimes. I don't text and drive, but I might answer a text or something if I am stopped...and I was stopped A LOT during this time frame.

Finally, I've lost my patience. I am about 150 yards from where I am turning. Two cars pass me on the shoulder, so I decide to do the same, WHICH IS WRONG - I KNOW, I GET IT, but still, I did it. Again - I am going to turn right...eventually!

So I pass several cars and finally have to stop because there is a woman in a car who has decided NO ONE is going to pass her on the shoulder, and to that end, she is making sure to straddle the white line with her car. And when I say straddle, I mean she literally had HALF her car in the lane and half on the shoulder. The man in the truck I had just passed thought I was an idiot (and, to be fair, I was, but again, that is beside the point. This is MY story, not his.) There was a young man (I'd guess my age, but apparently, I'm really bad at that and I've found that not many people are my age...most are a good 5+ years younger. Who knew?!). For argument's sake, I'm going to say this guy was in his 30s. His passenger (who I'm guessing was his father) was significantly older...like older than my parents.

The bald, old man is the one who was unhappy with me. He was so unhappy with my actions that he felt the need to yell at me. "STUPID KID!"

Me? Kid? Really? Because I don't think you are trying to compliment me, but you are.

Then, to make sure I knew he meant business, this old man flipped me the bird! I chuckled and flipped him back. I guess that wasn't enough for him. The rest of the 30 some-odd yards we creeped along, he had his son repeatedly honk the horn so he could flip me off more. Now, I'm laughing out loud, which he can totally see in my side view mirror. He was unimpressed at best.

I made my turn and left him. It was truly a funny evening!


**disclaimer** I do NOT make a practice of driving on the shoulder of the road, nor do I mess with my phone while driving. I will answer my phone if it rings and I will call someone whose number is programmed (I can't dial and drive!).