It happens once in a while that I get into it with a cab driver on my way to work. It's almost always cab drivers. Their long hours give way to short tempers. And the argument is almost always the same. I'm in the bike lane, which many cab drivers use as an auxiliary drop-off/pick-up lane, and they pullover just in front of me. I ride past and give a quick knock on their window. I don't doubt that it startles them. I know I would be surprised if I was about to rundown someone I didn't see and they knocked on my window just before I hit them. That fight-or-flight instinct kicks in and they catch up with me and prepare to fight. And when it happens, we both yell at each other for being idiots and that's usually the end of it. But what's the right thing to do? Well, avoidance is the ideal situation. Baring that, a calm talk when the guy gets out of the car to scream at you. But looking into eyes brimming for a fight makes it tough to be calm. What I need is something really funny to yell when they hop out of the cab. Maybe I'll begin telling them the tap at their window was because I need a ride to the airport and was trying to get their attention.
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