{"id":8044,"date":"2015-01-26T09:00:56","date_gmt":"2015-01-26T14:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gadflyonline.com\/home\/?p=8044"},"modified":"2015-01-30T10:00:16","modified_gmt":"2015-01-30T15:00:16","slug":"the-silent-war-we-wage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/the-silent-war-we-wage\/","title":{"rendered":"The Silent War We Wage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"silentwar\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t like to call myself a Road Rager. I would rather the open road. I prefer\u00a0the white, fluffy clouds and bright blue sky. Empty pavement. Instead, I get the blaring\u00a0headlights and the cars swerving into the opposite lane just to cut me off.<\/p>\n

All I want is to get from Point A to Point B. That\u2019s it. No headaches. But I seem\u00a0to dance at least with one, if not two, on my way to work and on my way home. They\u00a0just want to cut me off. Maybe I\u2019m driving too slow, enjoying the road, but I too must\u00a0be at work at eight A.M. They go left, and I speed up, closing in on the car before me,\u00a0making them my bitch. I force the asshole in the left lane to either get back behind me\u00a0or fly up ahead, cutting two cars off just to get back into the right lane. If their exit is\u00a0coming up on the right, that\u2019s not my problem.<\/p>\n

I was going to work last week. The traffic light flashed orange. I still had the\u00a0right of way, but as I went, so did another, who was in the left lane, waiting for the arrow.\u00a0I know I didn\u2019t turn on red. He was just in a rush, and our cars brushed against each\u00a0other. If he panicked, I didn\u2019t notice. I kept calm, moved up in front of him, and merged\u00a0into the right lane. He went left and went flying down that lane as fast as he could.\u00a0Again, not my problem. I had the right of way.<\/p>\n

Before that, a little further back, I was on 17M, going to work. I had this black\u00a0car brushing my bumper. His brights were on just like the others. I guess I was driving\u00a0too slow for him, and he flew into the opposite lane. I hit the gas and continued down\u00a0the road. A truck appeared in the opposite lane, but this guy still cruised my blind spot.\u00a0He saw the truck. I saw the truck, and the truck driver saw us. A rational human being\u00a0would return to his proper lane without further chaos \u2013 not this guy. He hit the gas\u00a0harder, flew right up to that truck, and then swerved back into his lane. I guess he needed\u00a0to stare death in the face to know that he was alive. It\u2019s a shame that some of us live such\u00a0an empty existence. Then again, people go nuts over gadgets and gizmos, so what does\u00a0that tell you about the human race?<\/p>\n

I was in the drug store yesterday, waiting in line. This young girl was behind me.\u00a0I noticed she moved to my left, hoping to bypass me, so I moved left. And she moved\u00a0right. We danced together for some time. I figured I would just trip her if she tried to\u00a0cut me off like I was not even standing in front of her, also waiting in line. She gave up,\u00a0but I knew. I knew she would be one of those drivers that I would have to wage war with\u00a0because she had the need for speed, the need to be a \u201cMe First,\u201d and it\u2019s such a damn\u00a0shame. It really is because this is the war that we silently wage against one another, and I\u00a0don\u2019t think it will ever end.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Melissa R. Mendelson has been working for the State of New York for the last five years. She is also a published short story author and poet. Her poetry has been included in Names in a Jar: A Collection of Poetry by 100 American Poets (Amazon, 2007). Her short story, Whispers in the Night, has been included in Espresso Fiction: A Collection of Flash Fiction for the Average Joe (Amazon, 2012).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t like to call myself a Road Rager. I would rather the open road. I prefer the white, fluffy clouds and bright blue sky. Empty pavement. Instead, I get the blaring headlights and the cars swerving into the opposite lane just to cut me off. All I want is to get from Point A to Point B. That\u2019s it. No headaches. But I seem to dance at least with one, if not two, on my way to work and on my way home. <\/p>\n

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