Mr. Middle Finger on the Arterial Thinks He Got the Last Word…

I'd like to take a moment to vent. A moment to address a situation that happened to me Friday afternoon on Utica's Arterial as I was driving out of Utica towards New Hartford.

First, let me set the scene. I was traveling south on the Arterial and I was just accelerating as I was leaving downtown and just passed the Burrstone Rd. exit. I was in the left passing lane and I came upon a guy in a pickup truck who was driving slower in the same passing lane.

For the record, I don't flip out as I'm driving when people do stupid things. I don't flip people off, I don't lay on the horn when someone doesn't see the green light, and I don't flash my high beams when a random fool decides to retire in the left lane.

On this Friday afternoon, I continued to follow the guy - not too closely - but close enough for him to see I'm trying to pass and reminding him, he's sitting in the left lane in my way. The guy continues to completely ignore me. At this point, I can see ahead and realize the car ahead of the pickup truck is way ahead of him, so I decide to pass him on the right.

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Again, I'm not flipping out and I'm not driving erratically - I'm simply going to move around him and continue on my way.  As I pull into the right lane, Johnny Brilliant - I'm pretty sure that's his name - decided to hit the gas and wouldn't let me get by him. At this point, it's been a long day and I'm heading to meet up with Comedian/Talk Show Host Jimmy Failla at the comedy club in Washington Mills, and I have no interest in getting into a road rage incident with some nitwit. So, I fall back and return to the left lane about three car lengths behind and my plan was to just deal with it.

Now, Johnny Rocket in the pickup decides to move over into the left lane and let me pass. I'm thinking to myself, this ought to be good. As we both drove by the French Road exit and I accelerate and begin to pass the guy - I look over and there he is flipping me off against his driver's side window. He's not just giving me the gesture, he's kind of throbbing his middle digit up against the window as if to emphasize his point over and over again.

I didn't overreact. I just shook my head, sped up and left him in my rear view mirror and I lost him completely by the time I passed the Yahnundasis.

But here's my point. What did I do wrong?

This idiot is driving well under the speed limit in the left lane, he won't move out of the way, he's blocking traffic from getting by him, and I'm the one getting the middle finger?

I finally chalked it up to the fact that he must have been having a really bad day, or a really bad life, and for that one moment as he was thrusting his middle finger at me up against his closed driver's side window, he had to be feeling better about himself because he was getting the last word. Or, at least he thought he was getting the last word.

Of course, he has no idea that I video taped the whole thing and I have a clear shot of his face as he's making a complete fool out of himself. Now the question at hand is whether or not I should post the video. What do you think?

All I can say at this point is that I'm contemplating a part two to this story.

To be continued...