Saturday, April 4, 2009

A few words on the middle finger

I have never been a big fan of the middle finger – whether giving or getting it. In the instances that I am on the receiving end of the gesture, I often smile and wave at the person who is flipping me off. I realize that my reaction might seem obnoxious (never mind that in my opinion “shooting the bird” is, under ALL circumstances, obnoxious), but I refuse to retaliate against some bitter hothead who can’t control him or herself.

I bring this pleasant subject up because I found myself on the receiving end of a very enthusiastic middle finger last night. While I’m sure I’m construed as highly biased, I maintain that I was fully undeserving of that middle finger.

On Fordham Blvd, a smallish black car was weaving in and out of traffic. I stayed in my lane but the smallish car kept weaving. Although I never crowded or tailgaited, the black car decided to do the “slam on the brakes” trick. Too bad for him I wasn’t tailgating, so his brake-tapping only made him look stupid. When he finally pulled off (turned right) he forcefully thrust his middle finger out of his window and I just thought, WHY?!

As a seemingly-biased, middle-finger-hating girl, my mind wonders to the worst-case-scenario.

What I mean is, say you’re the asshole flipping off the car behind you. What if you’re a HUGE Tar Heel basketball fan and it’s Ty Lawson behind you – and you just flipped him off. Or, even worse, you could've just flipped off a psycho with a gun. I guess my point is that road rage is hot-headed stupidity. Keep it under control, any way you can.

When I was on the receiving end of the undeserving middle finger last night, I smiled, waved and blew a kiss. My “flipper” was not amused but became obviously flustered (score!).

I have a hot-headed temper. “Flipper” didn’t get my goat. I got his. Regardless, I discourage the use of the middle finger as communication.

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