Ah cars. All too common scenario. Very thought provoking, thanks for sharing.
I know having my kids and their friends in the car has made me more self-aware of how I drive and has made me a better, safer, and much nicer driver. Not to mention cyclist and pedestrian. It's too bad the handsome hockey dad morphed into ugly. Why not steep 24/7 in the pure joy of sheer handsomeness? Ha ha. In any case, surely his son is taking notes, for better or worse. Hard to know for sure...
Putting myself in your shoes. While I'd like to think I'd be Gandhi and sit down in front of the guy's car, the reality is I'd have done, in fact have done, roughly what you did - stoke the cortisol.
In hindsight, the kid in the car presents all sorts of conundrums and opportunities. In a better world these types of inevitable exchanges can be shifted into playful banter, ie where the street / car becomes the classroom (or improv comedy workshop?).
All too easy to play arm chair coach over coffee in my kitchen on a Sunday morning. Wherever we go, there we are. Together. Onward.
Thanks for your thoughts. And nothing wrong with the armchair coach because I have given everyone that opportunity today.
My friend wrote me that a good one would be to simply apologize to him for the inconvenience and explain why I did what I did, which would be the “bigger person” angle and model some good behaviour for the boy.
In future I will stay close to that strategy if I do have to engage the suspect.
Nice. As related aside, I was approached at a recent Goose concert by a 40ish lawyer (as he felt compelled to report) who asked my wife's friend how old we are. He said he and his friends (behind us) were taking bets on how old we are. Sure, "I'll be 33 in October" was my response (54, actually). He seemed satisfied with my reply, and left. Thankfully. And we resumed our dancing. WTF. Enjoy the show dude. It's legally binding. I guess I was proud of my reply and can't say I've been half as gracious in the past. I'll credit Goose for capturing my attention and snuffing out the impending litigation ;)
Ah cars. All too common scenario. Very thought provoking, thanks for sharing.
I know having my kids and their friends in the car has made me more self-aware of how I drive and has made me a better, safer, and much nicer driver. Not to mention cyclist and pedestrian. It's too bad the handsome hockey dad morphed into ugly. Why not steep 24/7 in the pure joy of sheer handsomeness? Ha ha. In any case, surely his son is taking notes, for better or worse. Hard to know for sure...
Putting myself in your shoes. While I'd like to think I'd be Gandhi and sit down in front of the guy's car, the reality is I'd have done, in fact have done, roughly what you did - stoke the cortisol.
In hindsight, the kid in the car presents all sorts of conundrums and opportunities. In a better world these types of inevitable exchanges can be shifted into playful banter, ie where the street / car becomes the classroom (or improv comedy workshop?).
All too easy to play arm chair coach over coffee in my kitchen on a Sunday morning. Wherever we go, there we are. Together. Onward.
Thanks for your thoughts. And nothing wrong with the armchair coach because I have given everyone that opportunity today.
My friend wrote me that a good one would be to simply apologize to him for the inconvenience and explain why I did what I did, which would be the “bigger person” angle and model some good behaviour for the boy.
In future I will stay close to that strategy if I do have to engage the suspect.
Nice. As related aside, I was approached at a recent Goose concert by a 40ish lawyer (as he felt compelled to report) who asked my wife's friend how old we are. He said he and his friends (behind us) were taking bets on how old we are. Sure, "I'll be 33 in October" was my response (54, actually). He seemed satisfied with my reply, and left. Thankfully. And we resumed our dancing. WTF. Enjoy the show dude. It's legally binding. I guess I was proud of my reply and can't say I've been half as gracious in the past. I'll credit Goose for capturing my attention and snuffing out the impending litigation ;)
Haha that is awful. Yet also a testament to how unaware younger people can be (or simply unhibited even though it's frustrating).