_{This is Day 8 of the 30-day Traffic Koans contest. Details on how to enter can be found here: https://steemit.com/traffic-koans/@jedau/traffic-koans-halfway-update-1505319420-6600256}

The once enlightened young man found himself yet again standing in a queue. This time though, he was armed with the patience imbued by experience. However, years have passed and his enlightenment had waned. In fact, he wasn't even a young man anymore.

On his way back to the queue, he had stubbed his toe, tripped, fell and bumped into other people on a number of different occasions. With every accident, his patience grew thinner and thinner.

The sun shone overhead, and the heat became unbearable. He was almost back to his original position from years ago, so he resolved to stick with it no matter the circumstance. The person ahead of him continually fidgeted, and the person behind him kept on stepping on his ankle, dislodging his shoe.

Sweat dripped down the side of his face and the length of his back. Every other person that he came across bumped his shoulder without even asking for an apology. All of a sudden, the person in front of the person in front of him sang an off-key tune, which he couldn't get out of his head. These events didn't faze him, but he was visually becoming more and more irritated.

The person behind him once again stepped on the heel of his shoe, and he was thrusted forward, accidentally hitting the person ahead of him. As a response, he was knocked back. The man clenched his fist, furrowed his eyebrows and gritted his teeth. His vision became black, and he unleashed his pent up anger.

At that moment, he bid farewell to enlightenment.

I will not excuse myself from this one. After all, I'm just a human who can instantly turn into a murdering rage monster with a snap of a finger, so who am I to judge. In fact, it's because of this why I decided to make this series. It's not like I want to be angry all the time, it's just that I want to learn how to control my anger while on the road.

It's not like I've drawn a gun on someone before. Just last year there have been a string of high-profile incidents in the Philippines that is centered around what is discussed in the koan. Cyclists have been killed, and, worse, collateral damage grew in number as well. While I don't excuse myself, I would have to say that I'm quite low on the scale. What I normally do is just flip the bird, shout inside my car and let volcanoes on the other side of the planet erupt.

Sure, one would argue that all of the violations for this series involve me raging inside my vehicle, but I want to take this moment to narrate one of my most shameful moments on the road. This is for transparency's sake, and I hope that you don't judge my whole driving based on this. If you want to go to the bathroom, I advice you to do it now. We'll wait...

Ready? Strap on your seatbelts because, well, you'll get it.

_{Harp Source}

It was one fateful Saturday night, I was at my then-girlfriend's (now fiancée's) house, and we were making plans for dinner. I wanted to order in, because I was too lazy to drive. As if I'm never lazy to drive, but I digress. But, @randomli's older sister was craving for some Korean food.

You see, I have a strong intuition when it comes to danger. Call it a Spider-Sense, call it a precog vision. Call it whatever you want, just don't call it something that's all in my head. If I had STEEM for every time I was proven right, I would've been a dolphin for a while now. I had a bad feeling about it, but I was in the minority. Since we were still in the early stages of our relationship, I always made it a point to try to impress her family. So, I went against my better judgement and folded.

_{Spider-Man Source}

We set about going to the nearby mall, which was just supposed to be less than 5 minutes away via car. But, it was rush hour, so there was a traffic jam. The highway were we were had a peculiar spot where three lanes suddenly merge into two without any reason or signal. I kept it safe and I maintained a solid position in the leftmost lane, the one that didn't need to merge.

So there we were, sitting comfortably in the middle of traffic, when suddenly a thud was heard in the front right corner of my car. It was a souped up pick up truck whose wheels made it look like a monster truck. The dreadful thing tried to wiggle its way in front of us, and it managed to do so through sheer force.

I was startled, I didn't know what to make of it. @randomli was panicked a bit, and her older sister told me we shouldn't let that slide. So, I didn't. Mind you, the next part of this story was mostly from their recollection. It seems that I was possessed by the Spirit of Vengeance and I didn't have full control of my body.

I gave chase, honking and honking, trying to signal to the pickup truck to pull over, but it didn't yield. In fact, it sped up and try to shake me once the traffic cleared up. Now, I'm not a fan of racing video games, but apparently the Spirit of Vengeance was. I was laser focus in trying to give chase, that I didn't care if we got into an accident. Fortunately, we didn't, and I was able to weave through traffic like a professional stunt driver.

We passed a traffic enforcer and I told him to stop that pickup truck, but he paid no attention, so I continued to give chase. When I found my opening, I overtook it and drifted to a halt. It forced the villainous vehicle to abruptly stop as well. @randomli's older sister told me to get out and talk to the driver, so I tried to compose myself. At that point, my eyes were screaming bloody murder, so I knew I had to mellow out a bit.

When I got out, I trotted towards it and immediately belted out a defeaning growl. There were about six men in the pickup truck, and none of them looked like the owner. They all look like construction workers taking the fully decked-out truck for a joy ride. I flashed my famous intimidation stare at them, and they seemed to be glued to their seats. The driver, who looked like the youngest among them, couldn't look at me directly and couldn't take his hands off the wheel.

_{Ghost Rider Source}

"What the flying [fox] happened back there?" I shouted. "Are you deaf? Couldn't you hear me honking at you?"

"Y-You were the one at fault," the driver stuttered, still unable to meet my gaze. He looked like he was pissing himself, or like someone caught red-handed committing a crime. Sweat dripped down his face, but he tried to project an air of confidence. Unfortunately for him, I am not one to back down.

His companions defended him verbally, still arguing that I was at fault and that I should be the one saying sorry. The exchange went on and on, with increasing volume. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist (oh wayhay! I guess that's where the koan beats came from haha!) Now, I'm not usually confrontational, but I don't scare easily. I used to be scrawny, so I'm used to standing up to people ten times my size. Even though I knew how to defend myself and I have ABS (A Big Stomach), I knew that I couldn't take the six of them on my own. I had two women to think about after all. They looked like a ripped street gang, even though they didn't move from where they sat.

I told them to wait there, as I retreated back to my car to fetch something. In my mind, I had no plans to go back, so I made it look like I was looking for a gun or any weapon. I talked to @randomli and her older sister to check if they were alright. Acting tough, I made it seem like I was regrouping and asking them how they wanted to handle the situation. @randomli wanted to charge at them, but I urged her not to, excusing that 'I got this boo.' Her sister on the other hand had completely mellowed out, as if she wasn't the spark that egged me on. I waited a while until the pickup sped off.

_{Image Source}

I shouted at them and flipped them the bird, to which they returned the favor. Internally, I felt relieved that the confrontation was over, but I was still pissed that my bumper and headlight was damaged. Really though, I don't think they had the capacity to pay for the damages. I don't mean to be judgemental, but they really did look like they didn't own the car they were using, and that the driver was being taught, well, how to drive.

You would think that after this incident, @randomli and her older sister would learn to trust my senses, but you would be wrong. However, that's a story for a different post ;)

Looking forward to reading your road rage stories in the comments section! :D Seriously, share your stories. Don't make me come there and strangle you.

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To know how to enter, check out the link below

https://steemit.com/traffic-koans/@jedau/traffic-koans-halfway-update-1505319420-6600256

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Vote @lukestokes.mhth | @steemgigs as Steemit witnesses!

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