My pleasure.
I wouldn't be alive if someone hadn't taken a stupid teenage cry for help seriously years ago, so I try to repay the good intent. No threat must be taken likely - nor the hardship of our fellow human. You never know what someone's going through.
When I see someone upset, I try to understand them and console them in whatever matter seems necessary. If someone's angry, I show kindness - sure, it pisses them off even more, but they'll appreciate it later on when they've calmed down. You never know if that "!@#$%^& driving fast" or that "douche who bumped into you on the street" or the impatient guy who jacked your taxi is in a colossal hurry because his wife is giving birth, his kid is sick, he just lost his job, he's late for an interview and has a family to feed, or is otherwise having a very bad day. If it was that important to me, I'd be the one driving fast, walking fast, or taking the first opportunity to move. Therefore, its better to understand and empathize than immediately demonize.
A little life lesson I learned over the years, but only recently experienced: I can't count how many times this year I've been that one !@#$%^& driving way too fast, and for a damn good reason. I had a guy block my lane and slow me down to 15 under the 65-mph limit when I blew out a tire on Route 78 on my way back from Pennsylvania this summer, on 4th of July actually. My cousin had just drunkenly backed up his Ford F150 (or 250, not sure) into my car, demolishing it. All my tires were bald because I can't afford to change them, I was low on gas, and my right front rim was damaged from the impact, compromising the integrity of my tire - and thus my control. Because of that dick not understanding that I needed to get near the shoulder as fast as possible and not be in the tiny under-construction-with-concrete-barriers-on-both-sides 2-lane with no embankment in sight, and his dumbass slowing me down as I tried to keep as much distance between myself and the horde of cars behind me as humanly possible, I very nearly caused a massive pileup when my tire exploded and I spun out. Thank god I decided to do something incredibly stupid and irresponsibly risky - my car is one of those fancy new ones that tell you your tire pressure. When I saw it hit critical, I switched lanes, cut off the guy next to the douche, and blasted to about 110 miles per hour til I got just near the start of the embankment. As I slowed down, POP. At around 70, I spun out, fishtailed across the beautiful, amazing, incredible, thank-!@#$ing-god 3 or 4 lanes and managed to hit the embankment going about 40, maybe a bit less. I skidded to a halt just beside the central divider - nice steel-cord between concrete mini-pillars, sure to annihilate my car and prevent me from killing anyone by flying into the opposite side of traffic. A very, VERY nice PA state trooper even stopped to help me change my tire! Apparently someone saw me and called 911, saying they're pretty sure I need an ambulance and am severely injured. Somehow, I managed not a single !@#$ing scratch. Thank embankment saved my life - and that pissy douchebag who tried to slow down Mr. Speedy Gonzales? Well, he would have been responsible for my death, and the injury and damage to a good 30 cars behind me.
Lesson? Get the !@#$ out of the way, because you don't know whose about to die, give birth, having a heart attack, about to !@#$ their pants, or lose control of their vehicle.
