Reply #39: That's a scary story, Mari [View All]

I am glad you didn't let them scare you, though!

I don't have any bumper stickers at all on my car, partly because I'm afraid of having it vandalized (I mean like a smashed window or a slashed tire) and partly because it's so beat up I wonder if it wouldn't hurt the message ("Look at that piece of junk, no wonder she's a democrat").

I've been road raged a couple of times, apparently for going too slow, but nothing near as bad as you, Hogarth, and progressiverealist have described -- just aggressive tailgating and getting cut off, and once I got the finger, but that's all. I did witness a really serious incident once with two guys repeatedly cutting each other off in rush hour traffic (I drive I-77 between Akron and Cleveland each day); one of them got more and more worked up until he was leaning out his window, screaming and gesturing, and then he started going after a third guy who fortunately wasn't willing to get caught up in it. I was certain they were going to cause an absolutely horrendous wreck but Mr. SUV ended up pulling off at an exit ramp, still screaming and flailing his arm.

A girlfriend once had a guy start after her on a country road, tailgating her and refusing to pass, but she had a cellphone and called the highway patrol. They patched her through to the local police who stayed on the phone with her and kept telling her how close she was getting to the place where a cruiser was going to intercept them. Sure enough, the cop was there and pulled the guy over.

I wonder, does anyone see any Bush/Cheney bumper stickers or window signs anymore? I remember seeing quite a few "Bush/Quayle" and "Dole/Kemp" ones (including the infamous "Don't blame me, I voted for Bush") long after the elections, but in the past eight months I've probably only seen one old "Sportsmen for Bush" sticker on a beaten-up redneck pickup truck and that is all. I've seen far more "Peace" or "No War in Iraq" stickers than anything it seems, along with two for Kucinich (this is Northeast Ohio after all) and a window sign for Dean.

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