Heather and I found ourselves, on a whim, riding the new scooter to see "The Golden Compass" yesterday. On Geary, a funky looking cab drifted over into our lane, making me drop back and to the side. It's one of those situations which are moderately dangerous, but the mood was on me, and with a gloved hand, I flipped him off.Now, the last time I flipped someone off on the road was at least five years ago, when a MUNI bus driver stopped, opened his door, and told me my bicycle night light was too dim. I gave him the bird and he shrugged and drove off.
So maybe I'll make this a bi-decade event. It was, I'll admit, quite fun. And then when we got up behind the cab, both Heather and I made the universal sign of, "Hey, what the fuck?!" He, an older gentleman, made the universal sign of, um, well, actually we weren't sure, but it looked like, "Calm, calm, slowly, slowly." You know, as if you were trying to calm an angry cow that was paused, quivering with anger, in front of you.
Heather asked, "What did that mean?" and for me, it was like the ritual was complete and if the fellow was outdoors, I would have said something like, "Well done, brother!"
I don't get to participate in many social rituals in my citified, Western life, so I guess this will have to do.
