So I left early to attend the Gene Green townhall on the south side of Houston. I go in my Ranger so I don't have to sweat parking.
I get onto 610 at a whopping 1 or 2 miles per hour, trying to change lanes I squeeze over so the truck behind might be able to get by. He honks as he goes by ... scraps my bumper. He advances a whole 10 feet.
I pull up alongside the guy and ask my wife to roll down the window and tell him he hit the truck. She rolls down the window and YELLS ... Hey! You hit my F-ING truck! He yells back Too F-ing bad, that's what you get!
Few things cross my mind. Number one, WTF is she doing talking to people like that, that's no way to handle a stressful situation? Number two, there are 4 big guys in that truck. Number three, we aint got no guns.
So I say, hey, we need your information. He says F-you I aint pulling over. I tell the wife to get the license plate number off his trailer and truck. There was no way my little ranger was going to intimidate a F-350 crew cab. Well that, and the thought of legal bills, missed work, and any violence, had me thinking this wasn't worth escalation.
I pull over, the damage isn't too too bad. I went to the police station to report the incident. The officer says, are you sure you want to pursue this? Texas is a no fault state, it will go on your record, you're deductable will probably cost you more than the repair (he had not seen the bumper, but was probably right). The guy that drove off is probably looking at a $100 or $200 fine.
I was pissed since I'm a fair is fair and right is right kind of guy. You damage someone's property, you pay to repair it.
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So, we head back towards the townhall. We find a packed parking lot, packed hallways, sardine packed meeting room, an irritated crowd, and a visibly shaken congressman. From what I could hear, he stalled for time, tried to defend the same 4-6 talking points, and offered nothing worth hearing.
There was one lady that commented that the crowd was disrespectful and she was leaving. She let everyone around her know she wasn't happy.
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I have to wonder if the guys in the truck and lady at the townhall would have cried racism had the shoe been on the other feet.
I get onto 610 at a whopping 1 or 2 miles per hour, trying to change lanes I squeeze over so the truck behind might be able to get by. He honks as he goes by ... scraps my bumper. He advances a whole 10 feet.
I pull up alongside the guy and ask my wife to roll down the window and tell him he hit the truck. She rolls down the window and YELLS ... Hey! You hit my F-ING truck! He yells back Too F-ing bad, that's what you get!
Few things cross my mind. Number one, WTF is she doing talking to people like that, that's no way to handle a stressful situation? Number two, there are 4 big guys in that truck. Number three, we aint got no guns.
So I say, hey, we need your information. He says F-you I aint pulling over. I tell the wife to get the license plate number off his trailer and truck. There was no way my little ranger was going to intimidate a F-350 crew cab. Well that, and the thought of legal bills, missed work, and any violence, had me thinking this wasn't worth escalation.
I pull over, the damage isn't too too bad. I went to the police station to report the incident. The officer says, are you sure you want to pursue this? Texas is a no fault state, it will go on your record, you're deductable will probably cost you more than the repair (he had not seen the bumper, but was probably right). The guy that drove off is probably looking at a $100 or $200 fine.
I was pissed since I'm a fair is fair and right is right kind of guy. You damage someone's property, you pay to repair it.
-----------------------
So, we head back towards the townhall. We find a packed parking lot, packed hallways, sardine packed meeting room, an irritated crowd, and a visibly shaken congressman. From what I could hear, he stalled for time, tried to defend the same 4-6 talking points, and offered nothing worth hearing.
There was one lady that commented that the crowd was disrespectful and she was leaving. She let everyone around her know she wasn't happy.
-------------------
I have to wonder if the guys in the truck and lady at the townhall would have cried racism had the shoe been on the other feet.
