Brick in the Face

Coming home from a nice lunch out with a friend, I had the horrible experience of watching some road-rage. Micah was with me in the car, which just made it all the more horrible.

A taxi driver made a u-turn into our side of the road. People don't give way to each other here, so a driver has to push his way into traffic if he ever wants to get anywhere. So the taxi was slowly easing his way into the traffic. A motorcycle decided he didn't want to give way, and the taxi probably assumed he would, so this caused a problem. Usually the bigger vehicle wins. Unfortunately for the motorcyclist and his passenger, there was a pile of bricks in the road, which already was making the traffic worst. But the taxi came out anyway and caused the motorcycle to slow down and move to the side by the bricks. He must have lost control on a brick and he spilled the bike. Both riders were fine, but upset. The taxi driver kind of stopped and looked back out the window. The motorcycle driver was upset and grabbed the first thing he saw, a brick, and charged towards the driver.

What we saw next was terrifying. The motorcycle guy went up to the window and poised his hand with the brick back in a "smashing your face" stance. Micah slumped down in his seat so as not to see the fight. I screamed, "Oh my word!" And then noticed the guy still held the brick. Thankfully he was just being typical. You see, it is typical of the Indian man (in Delhi any way), to come across very threatening. If two cars crash, the drivers will get out and puff their chests up. They yell at each other and look like they will punch the other, but seldom do they follow through. I have seen the same thing on some of those nature shows about ostriches.