Invading A Guy's Cocoon

I also could relate to the Deborah Lupton article, Monsters in Metal Cocoons: “Road Rage” and Metal Bodies. Like Sarah, I’ve been directly involved with a few incidences of road rage. Fortunately, I’ve never been the catalyst in any of them, though I must admit that I have fantasized about doing great bodily harm to certain individuals that have honked their horn at me, cut me off, or any number of other road infractions, big or small.
A couple of years ago, I had finished my shopping and was in my truck getting ready to head back home. I watched as a man and his teenage daughter got into their Saab. The man backed out of his parking space and hit the car that was parked behind him. I was surprised when the guy quickly drove away. Without much thought, I honked my horn and motioned for him to stop. He circled around the parking lot and came back to where I was parked. He then jumped out of his car, screamed something at his daughter, and came toward me. I asked him why he hadn’t stopped and checked to see if the car he had struck was damaged. He responded that I was being “irrational” and that I was “coming at him in a threatening manner using profanity and frightening his daughter.” I had not used any profanity; in fact, I hadn’t even raised my voice at this point. He told me that he wasn’t going to stand there and be threatened and that he was going to phone the police because I was harassing him. He walked back toward his car and started to get in. I leaned into my truck, grabbed a pen and proceeded to write down his license plate number. When he realized what I was doing, he flipped completely out! He ran back at me screaming “Now I see how things are done here in Vermont!” (He was from New York). He was so angry he was spitting. I’m about 6’3” and he was at least a foot shorter than me. He then told me that if I was going to take down his number, he was going to take my down, too. He also said that he was going to have me arrested for assault! Keep in mind that I had only asked him why he hadn’t stopped to see if the car he hit was damaged. When I repeated the question, he said that he didn’t have to check the other car because his bumper was rated for a 30 mph impact. I pointed out to him that the car he hit wasn’t rated for a 30 mph impact. He again said that he was going to call the police. At this time an elderly man and woman walked up and said that they had seen the whole incident and supported me completely. This psychopath must have realized that he was outnumbered, so he got into his car and drove to the other side of the parking lot. I went over to the car he struck and examined it to see if there was any damage. I couldn’t see any, but I left the guy’s plate number and then waited until the guy drove off. The elderly couple said that they were going to alert the mall’s security service as to what happened and that was the end of it.
I’m reasonably sure that this man doesn’t act this way normally. He was obviously in a hurry and, in his own mind, thought that he had done nothing wrong. I invaded his cocoon by honking my horn and he couldn’t deal with it. I think it was yet another example of road rage.

This was a very interesting article and I especially liked how Lupton describes the “interior of the car as consonant with that of the human uterus…” (60). I like to think of the interior of my truck as an extension of my home. I have my CD player, my coffee, and the temperature is always perfect. As I wrote, I’m not above loudly voicing my displeasure at my fellow drivers if I feel that they are impeding my progress. I agree with Deborah Lupton when she says, “When the cause of our need to slow down or stop is another person…he or she becomes the target of our frustration and anger” (63). This was an eye-opening article that has made me re-think the way I react to certain situations while driving.