“That is a reckless driver.” If you ride in a car with my father the chance you will hear that phrase is greater than 93%. I ride to and from school each day with him and without a doubt you will hear him dramatically claim a person is being a reckless driver. My father has told me that reckless drivers could be sent to jail for creating a public safety issue. Sending someone to jail sounds like a pretty cool thing to do, so I began aiding my father in identifying reckless drivers. However, I believe my father had done a poor job of clearly defining what constitutes a reckless driver and what constitutes a bad driver. If a driver was not operating the motor vehicle well, I would instantly alert my father that a reckless driver was present on the road and command that we call the police to take immediate action and take them to jail. Ironically, whenever I categorized a driver as being a reckless driver by father disagreed and stated they are just a bad driver. I could never determine why I inevitably miss categorized all drivers in my father’s eyes. I hope he knew there were no prizes to be awarded.
Recently we were driving and, as expected, my father spotted a reckless driver in front of us that he claimed was being distracted by talking on their cell phone. I watched the car for a few seconds and my dad did have a point the car was zig zagging back and forth, crossing over the center and side lane marks many times. He attempted to pass the woman but he cautiously pulled back when he witnessed her cross far over the center lane markers. He huffed and puffed in the front seat as the woman’s driving somehow became progressively worse. My father spotted an opportunity to pass the other car as an upcoming stoplight was just turning red. He explained he was going to pull into the left lane while the woman slowed down to stop at the red light; our cars would be even and then when the light turned green he was going to “gun it” and speed ahead to create safe distance from that reckless driver.
As we pulled up to the woman’s car she was just hanging up her phone call. When our car was exactly next to her car, I noticed that her window was all the way down. I thought that it was an opportune time to engage the woman to state that we witnessed her reckless driving and we are going to call the police to have her arrested. I casually rolled down my window so I could share my thoughts. The woman in the car next to us was focusing her attention on her phone again in her lap. I didn’t know how long the light was going to last so I decided I needed to get her attention. I then yelled, “Hey lady, you are a reckless driver and we are going to call the police on you to take you to jail!” My father’s head whipped around with a panicked look covering his face. Before he could get a word out the woman in the car next to us had already began her response. “You little boy think you can send me to jail? Let me tell you something, there isn’t anybody that is going to get me locked-up.” Meanwhile, my father was trying to get me attention to stop talking to the woman in the car next to us and simultaneously he began rolling up my window. She had asked me a question, which I believed I was obligated to answer since I initiated this conversation. With only a few inches of space before the window closed I replied, “Yup, me and my dad and going to get you sent to jail. We are calling the police right now.” My father’s voice then roared, “Stop talking to that woman, no more, understand?” I nodded in acknowledgement but the next series of events were already set in motion.
The woman in the car started becoming very animated and began yelling from her car window at us. I blankly stared at her, which did not seem to help her mood. She began motioning for my father to roll down his window. My father looked straight ahead and would not engage her. She became even more frustrated and began pressing her car horn in attempt to get my father’s attention. My father maintained his position looking forward. He tapped the steering wheel anxiously waiting for the light to turn green. The woman continued to raise her voice demanding my father engage with her to finish the conversation. My father turned and made a gesture with his hands to calm down, which was not well received. She became so enraged she could not even form a sentence and she tripped over her words. The blood vessels leading to her head became very visible as her anger elevated. As she made a move as to unbuckle her seatbelt and exit her car, thankfully, the light turned green and my Dad pressed the accelerator, putting distance between the two cars. He then started taking side streets as if he thought she was going to tail him.
When we finally arrived home my father sat in the driveway with the car still on gathering his thoughts. I inquired, “Dad, are we going to go inside?” He responded, “Yes, but first we need to have a discussion about some additional ground rules of riding in the car. We cannot speak with anyone outside of the car no matter what the other person is doing, right or wrong.” I stated I understood. He then asked if I understood the magnitude of the little tift that I got us into today. Partly defensive, I fired back I was just sharing your comment that you originated about the reckless driver. I didn’t foresee it being problematic since you were the one that said it. He hung his head for a second then acknowledged he did originate the comment but requested from that point forward that his comments not be repeated. I could sense some vulnerability in his voice so I thought I could potentially capitalize on the moment. I replied, “I can do that for you but what do I receive in return?” He shot me a look of pure disbelief. There was no more feeling this one out; his look pierced my soul. “How about a ride… everywhere, food, roof over your head,” he said. I interrupted him in an effort to placate his anger, “Alright, sounds good. Let’s shake on it.” He firmly gripped my hand and said “deal.” When walking toward the house I thought, ”My father is truly an enigma, but I will keep trying to figure him out or at least try to hustle him while along the way.”