Ramming speed

Several years ago, I was going to work on a hot summer morning in Baltimore. I was in my portofino blue Ford pickup truck. It was a pain in the neck vehicle that had an intermittent stalling problem that could not be fixed by any Ford mechanic. But when it ran, it ran strong and felt good to drive.

That one hot morning, I was a bit irritated going to work (work-induced anger is common condition of mine) and trying to get some breakfast at a drive through on North Ave. If you're not familiar with Baltimore, North Ave isn't the best place in Baltimore for a caucassion in a pickup truck to lose their temper. As I'm sitting there waiting for the line to move, a hand extends from a big old 70s Cadillac Sedan de Ville to me gesturing for me to hold while they pull in.? They wanted to just cut in the drive through line. Stunned, I paused and they just pulled into and cut me off in the line. I don't know what came over me, but I jumped on the gas, my truck lifted a bit as it began to accelerate and lurched forward into their bumper.

I actually rammed the car because they cut me off in a McD's drive through window.

I sat there stunned as the two clashing machines came back to a resting postion. It was clear, no real damage was done. Two big vehicles with sturdy bumpers. The woman who was driving got out and looked at me. I sat there, still stunned. She said "God forgives you". She got back in her car and we all continued through the drive through and got our little bags of food.

It was a strange way to start the morning.