Dear Missouri Driver Who Flipped Me Off, This One’s for You

There are some things I just don't understand about society and this would be near the top of the list. Why do some people get so bent out of shape while driving over the smallest things? There's one recent Missouri driver that comes to mind and who this is directed at. I have some thoughts I'd like to share about the utter glee you revealed as you enthusiastically flipped me off.

Thanks to my daily commute, I spend the better part of an hour on Missouri highways every day

This driving time is made more challenging due to the fact that I do NOT have a good vehicle. It's 19 years old and quite temperamental. My goal every day is to just coax it to and from work and that's it. My somewhat conservative driving strategy did not please one Missouri driver in particular the other day.

Here's what happened. I was driving on Highway 61 in the right lane and I was cruising at the speed limit (like the law-abiding citizen I am) when I noticed a vehicle approaching behind me at a high rate of speed. Instead of moving into the passing lane and just going by me, this delightful example of humanity instead pulled up alarmingly close to the back of my car. After about 15 seconds of almost sitting in my back seat, they peeled around me and gave me the "you're number one" hand signal (or some variation) as they went by.

There's something this little ray of sunshine should know about me and why I don't speed

First of all, their gesture did not hurt my feelings as I have very thick skin. If anything, I was amused by how irate they became when I was not slowing them down and they could have gone into the passing lane at any time. But, I wonder if they would have acted differently if they had known the backstory of why I don't speed. I doubt they'd care, but here goes anyway. More than 4 decades ago, I was in a high-speed accident. I had someone pull out in front of me and my car impacted them totaling both of our vehicles. Fortunately, the person who pulled out in front of me did not have a passenger and was unhurt. I, on the other hand, hit the windshield with my head (I don't recommend this to anyone) fracturing my skull. I walked away and was not hospitalized, but had chronic nose bleeds for years. It was around that time that I also made the decision to go into radio as a career. Feel free to drop your own joke into that coincidence.

The bottom line is I don't speed because I was fortunate enough to live through a high-speed collision. It was terrifying and I don't think I've knowingly exceeded the speed limit since. Whenever I'm traveling and pass a vehicle that's going below the speed limit, I have to wonder if there's a chance that they've lived through what I did. I can only hope this enraged driver that I encountered never has to learn that life lesson like so many of us have.