Karma Cleanser - More Car conundrums

Karma Cleanser: Will it come back to bite you?

Dear Karma Cleanser:

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My husband and I recently took a road trip for a short vacation. On our way there, a guy pulled out in front of us and I almost instinctively flipped him off as we swerved around him. As I was projecting this ever-regrettable gesture, I noticed he was looking at us and waving as if to say, “I’m sorry.”

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So, here I am, the asshole who flipped off this poor guy because I was hot under the collar from the other buffoons who had already proven their inability to drive. I can’t believe this is still bothering me because it’s definitely not the first time my finger has flown the wild bird. But for some reason, it does.

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– Mrs. Hands

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It’s been a big month for road-rage-related letters here at Karma Central. You’d think the soaring cost of fuel these days would keep folks off the freeways, but the opposite seems to be true this summer. Perhaps only the crazy people – the ones willing to shell out a week’s salary for a tank of gas – are filling the roadways. No wonder your middle finger is getting such a workout. Make amends to your inadvertently wronged fellow drivers, and to all of us, by swearing off road trips and any unnecessary travel for the rest of the hot-weather months. Doesn’t anyone read books anymore?

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Dear Karma Cleanser:

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In response to “Captain Congestion,” June 28: I just read the letter from the man who has the “commute from hell,” which he feels is hurting his relationship with his wife. I gagged when I read his statement that friends are “too time-consuming” and children are “too expensive.” It seems to me that this man’s problem has nothing to do with his drive and is more about his inability to form meaningful relationships with other people. A short commute won’t fix a problem like that.

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I’ve been there myself. For years I was married to a person who complained all the time about her job and her lack of friends. Even after her job changed, she still found something new to complain about. I started to understand why she had no friends. Our marriage ended soon after that.

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I’d like to suggest that “Captain Congestion” stop playing video games and start spending some quality time with his wife. Just my two-cents worth.

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– Highwayman

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Maybe you’re right, or maybe you’re just reading your own autobiography in some poor commuter’s already sad situation. It’s hard to know all the bumps on another person’s road, even if you’ve driven it yourself.

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Been bad? karmacleanser@gmail.com.