QOTD: When Do You Flip the Bird?
Most of the time I am a genial fellow. Laidback. Not particularly quick to anger. Polite towards my fellow man.
Except, on occasion, when behind the wheel.
I’m not saying I’m in a constant state of road rage. Far from it. But sometimes someone pulls a stupid maneuver that directly negatively impacts me — or at least, I think negatively impacts me — and I use a certain gesture to let the other driver be aware of my disapproval.
I am, after all, a Chicagoan.
The most recent deployment of the finger between my ring and index digits took place last week. The details of this particular incident don’t really matter — I will just say, for the sake of brevity, that I was honked at and cut off by a driver more impatient than I, just three blocks from home after a slog back from O’Hare, and I wasn’t in the mood to let it slide with a wave and a smile.
Still, almost every time I deploy the old one-fingered salute — or, on rare occasions, the double-barreled version — I wonder if I am being too quick to the trigger.
So, I ask of you, B and B — at one point to you visually express yourself when another driver has wronged you — or at least when you perceive it as such?
[Image: David Tadevosian/Shutterstock.com]
Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
More by Tim Healey
Comments
Join the conversation
I own enough horsepower to forgo giving the middle finger to most: a downshift; a dab of oppo; and I'm out in front of the dalliance that might have otherwise perturbed me on my commute.
To be completely frank, I only flip the bird when I'M in the wrong. Which isn't all that often.
Here's a guy who flipped the Bird: https://www.airforcemag.com/thunderbirds-f-16d-flips-on-the-ground-in-ohio-passengers-safe/
Never ever on a public road. For left lane bandits, I'll do the left turn signal, maybe a brief flash to pass. I don't want to antagonize or see you...woad wage is a pointless scenario. I know your cell phone and the drama it is passing to you is more important than the two ton box moving at 70 mph....and don't need to break your glaze....I'll just get a hole, hit the gas, and go. There's a reason I don't own any slow cars. I did flip off a guy who squeezed me out of a corner line at NHMS though, so there's that...