He was an asshole.
Green cab, blue cargo trailer. He drove like a Californian, a destructive, selfish, mean Californian in a sedan or pick-up truck who doesn't give a shit about anybody on the road. But he drove a semi-truck. A fuckin' dangerous hybrid driver. A rare crossbreed. Someone who drives a large vehicle with a small vehicle mentality. He'll learn the hard way. Or someone else will teach him with their fatality.
He cut from lane to lane, whichever was going faster, without putting on his blinker. Without hesitating really. The problem with this is the sheer percentage of blind spot that a semi-truck has, not to mention the actual area it takes up on the road, coupled with its incredible weight.
He wedged his way up the merge lanes like the morning commuter assholes who can't wait in line like everybody else. Truckers aren't supposed to do this. They need time to switch lanes. Far in advance. I had been watching him for a long time now. Fearing his every move. The traffic dynamics were tense. Everyone was afraid of this guy. I got far away from him for a while, I thought I was safe. But he here he comes, wedging up the merge lane, and what happens? I am the one in front of him. And to my stark surprise, he pushes his way right into me, and almost forces me right off the road, or under his tires.
"Ohhhhh you dirty, dirty bastard."
He is ahead of me now. In all his opportunistic smugness. I must pass him. I must dominate.
And then: he is trapped! I get in the exit lane next to him and pass him up.
"Fuck you bitch!" I bellow out loud. And then I exit, and off he goes.
I thought about this. First in confusion, in slight embarrassment. Why? Why did I have to pass him? Was this vengeance? What are these petty games? It will never matter, ever. Let the bastard wreck himself. But then, I give in, I relinquish this obstructing rational thought. I savor the victory, the sweet vengeance. This is life, this seemingly petty race. To be the best. Why resist? This is how life sustains itself, survives. At the lowest level, it seems so ridiculous, but it adds up. It culminates into something essential.
Goddamn maniac truckers. Most of them are pretty considerate, considering. Considering all they put up with.
And then the argument becomes a circle.
