So… what just happened?
This was a very weird experience that I just had, and I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. Maybe you can help me.
I was driving home from work (as one would do when they are done their shift) and there was a decent amount of traffic because it was 5pm and I was accompanied by all the 9-5ers (and maybe some 8-4ers who were heading out to some other destination, like eating). On my way home from this particular job, I take back roads. There is this one road in the beginning of my commute home (Greenspring Avenue for those of you familiar with the Baltimore County, MD area) that has a pretty large hill. So I turn onto the road and start my slow chug up the hill thinking you can do it car, you can do it! (kind of like the Little Engine that Could… but with a RAV4). When I make it to the top of the hill, I begin to pick up speed… and then immediately slam on the brakes. We stopped in the middle of the road because someone was turning right (understandable, but kind of abrupt!). I have now stopped inches (or so it would seem to me) from the back of the gold Lexus SUV in front of me. Luckily, they began to move so I did not have to completely stop but was able to ease into a slow crawl. Once the person has turned into their driveway, we begin to move and… ahem MD drivers… the cars in front of me race off.
Is it just me who seems to accelerate at a reasonable pace? Now that the road is empty in front of me, as if there was no one there to begin with, I begin to move again, making my way up to a comfortable 40-45 (hello, someone has to follow the speed limit!). As I am cruising around the various turns of the road, I make my way around one particular curve and see the gold Lexus (remember them? Yeah they are the star of this show).
The Lexus is coming to a stop in the distance. At first I notice the road to the left and, as any rational driver would assume, figure that they are going to turn left. Did I mention they didn’t have their blinker on? Well, at this point I am pretty much accustomed to no indicators. Everyone has to be mind readers here in Maryland, anticipating the moves of all the drivers around them.
Turning left seemed to the be the only logical explanation. Why else would someone stop dead smack in the road during rush hour? (I think I’m going to have to ask that Lexus driver and get back to you on that one). I begin to slow down, not intending to completely stop but giving them sufficient time to turn. In the end I had to come to a stop. I was a little confused at this point so I stopped further back. Were they lost? Did their car just randomly decide that it wanted to take a nap? Should I go around?
The line behind me follows suit and now we are all just sitting in the middle of the road. I can’t decide whether or not to honk my horn…I see movement in the car and, out of the blue, the lady (I’m pretty sure it was) pulls out a phone and takes a picture. I see the camera point at what looked like the driver side view mirror and the light of the flash blink as the photo is snapped. I’m not as confused as to why she finds now to be the best time to take a picture, but more so of what is she taking a picture?
I know this might be my self-consciousness speaking, but I seriously thought at the moment that she had her camera pointed back at me! Am I a celebrity? Is there something on my face…my car? Is there something amazing behind me? Should I look? Why are you taking a picture?!
At this point, my hand is hovering over the steering wheel as I contemplate pushing the horn. My hand even connects with the surface of the horn but my brain is still trying to make sense of what is going on in front of me. Then, the lady decides that she is done with her photo-op and begins to turn left. What she taking a picture of the road? I begin to move, but only end of jolting as I hit the brakes again. The lady has now stopped mid-turn so she is sitting half in both lanes of the road. At this point, I’m concerned that a car will come from the other direction and run into the Lexus. As I am worrying about her life, she angles her phone out her driver side window and takes another picture.
What is going on?
All I end up doing is lifting my left hand in confusion as she finally turns left. And the weird part is (as if all of that wasn’t weird 🙂 ), as I drive by I do the natural thing of looking to the left at her and see her ducking her head to get a clear view back through her side view mirror.
I know this is weird and you probably would have thought nothing of it if you were in my situation, but this is how my brain works. At this point, I start going through potential things that she was taking pictures of. Strangely, the first thing I think of is she was taking a picture of me or my car. Why I thought that? The world (or I) may never know. For a large duration of my drive, I kept thinking of what did I do? I was driving perfectly fine. If anything, she was the one being weird. For some reason, I thought that I had done something wrong and that’s why she was taking a picture of me… all we know she could have been taking a side view mirror selfie.
This incident reminded me of the road rage encounter that I had previously (check out Ep. 1 Drivers of the Road to hear all about it!) and this could have very well been the reason that I was so affected by it.
But, the biggest thing that kept hounding me was: what just happened?
Can someone help me understand this? Leave a comment below if you can make sense of this, or if you have had any such strange encounters and you could be featured on an upcoming installment of Commuter Update!
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