Leave Me Out of It

I was in the process of driving last night when I was suddenly and inexorably drawn into a Race War. Let me explain.

I was turning onto an off ramp behind two other cars. The car in front was driving a tad too slow for the second car, who began to get close behind and crowd him (in some circles, this is known as "freaking"). We have all seen this happen, and I knew the two were going to be pretty pissed at each other.

So we come off the off ramp onto a three-lane street. Up ahead, a stoplight turns red. The first car gets into the right lane. The second car gets into the left lane. I roll on up into the middle lane, which was probably a mistake.

On my right was an Indian guy looking very angry. If you are having trouble picturing an angry Indian man, think of an Arab. On my left was a black guy giving dirty looks right back.

Sidenote: I spent a long time wondering if I should capitalize black. Hopefully I made the right call.

The thing is, these two guys are giving their angry looks through my car. I actually grabbed my seat control and rolled back a few inches so I wasn't in the thick of it. I could feel the tension building. As the light turned green, I knew I was about to die.

Ultimately, I decided to wait a few seconds to let the two cars get ahead of me. This might have been a good decision, because about five seconds later, the Indian guy pulls into the middle lane. A few minutes later, the black guy turns left at the next light, and the Indian guy follows him!

I decided not to follow and see how the evening turned out, but I know what the result will be: Race War.

Byah!

Rob