Last December, driving from our kids’ house in Chandler back to the RV park, stopped at a stoplight in the right lane, the driver of the big pickup truck in the left lane backed up even to us, and rolled down his wife’s passenger side window. I rolled down my window, and he yelled out at us, “Hey. Texas. That’s my favorite state!” He’s seen our Texas plates. “Cool.” I answered and gave him a smile.
He went on, “And Senator Cruz, he’s my favorite senator.” Okay, he’s seen the Beto sticker on the back of our Jeep. I smiled and waved. Didn’t need any late-night drama.
“And president Trump. He’s the best president ever! I love president Trump!” No problem. I gave him a thumbs-up and one more smile. His wife looked uncomfortable and stared straight ahead. The light changed, we both drove on, he in the faster lane. We forgot about it.
Several miles later, out of town, the road now dark, still in the right lane, we realized we were catching him. He was still in the left lane and slowing down. Just as we were about to pass him, he put on his right signal and started to come over. That didn’t seem right. I called his bluff and continued on in the right lane, watching that I had room on the shoulder if I needed it. He turned off his turn signal and stayed in the left lane. We both stopped at the next light up the road, him still in the left lane and us in the right turn lane. We were the only two vehicles there. He had the window down and was yelling at us past his still stone-faced wife. We couldn’t hear him, didn’t want to, left the window up, and made our right turn.
Nothing ever came of this. He went on his way I guess, but that certainly was a weird encounter, and had the feel of getting a whole lot weirder. It didn’t really seem to be about us specifically and wasn’t necessarily even about politics. It may have been more about this guy having some aggressions inside that needed to get out. It turned out fine for us. I hope it turned out as well for anyone else he encountered that evening.
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