Hell Yeah I Waved

On the expressway, just leaving Ponce. It's a straightaway, with a slight curve to the right. A dozen cars are bunched behind a Walgreen's truck and somebody who thinks 60 is the sound barrier.

A white Porsche darts out into the emergency lane and zips forward three cars, tucking itself behind the truck. I'm thinking about the $250 fine and the odds of anyone being caught in that place at that hour. Quick look up and My rearview mirror tells Me there's a cop just coming up in the distance. A matter of seconds...

Roll another fifteen seconds and the cluster starts breaking down as slowpoke up ahead decides that maybe 58 won't kill. Going slightly downhill, with about a kilometer of road easily visible ahead, I see a brown SUV slide right, then right again--into the emergency lane.

Up ahead, a short bridge. Two cars. Five people on the bridge. A tire being changed.

The SUV is too close.

Dust kicks as the SUV speeds up, the people on the bridge unaware how close they are to disaster. With less than a hundred feet to go, the SUV cuts left and only as it passes do the people on the bridge notice what happened.

I felt the soft glow of anger against stupidity. Didn't bother to feed it: What's the point? Some idiot breaks the law, risks lives and since nothing happened, what's going to happen?

A sudden braaap answers that question. The police car has moved up behind Me and before I can switch lanes, he does. A burly policeman, easily in the 260-280 weight range, passes Me, his fingers jabbing at the dashboard.

He. Is. Pissed.

Braaaps and quick driving get him through the now-broken cluster. I look down the road and see the brown SUV, in traffic, within the speed limit, rolling along. I can't hear the final braaap, but I see the patrol car's lights flash. They look pissed, too.

The SUV pulls over and stops quickly. The policeman is pissed, as he breaks protocol and doesn't angle his car behind the SUV. Instead, he brakes hard, straight behind the other car, a visual alert that this isn't going to be a warning.

Busted.

I drove by a few seconds later.

Honked My horn. Twice.

Hell yeah, I waved. One part raspberry, one part kudos.

Let them sort it out. I know what I meant.



The Jenius Has Spoken.