Thursday, April 10, 2008

Close Encounter With an Angry Mexican

So I was driving along this morning, minding my own business and doing my best to navigate the crazy streets here. Ibis had forgotten his lunch so I was bringing my beloved his chopped fruit before he starved.

As I approached the traffic circle you need to go through to get to his street, a car insisted on driving in my blind spot. Mind you, there wasn't room for him to be there and I was already in that lane, but he apparently wanted to be there more. I sped up to get in front of him but he stayed right next to me. Then I slowed down to let him past but same thing. Frustrated I stopped in the middle of the road and honked my horn so he'd pass me. He did and I merged behind him so I could make my turn.

Well, this is Mexico so of course it's not that easy. He stopped at the tope (speed bump) before entering the traffic circle and I pulled to a stop behind him. I waited for him to pull forward but instead he backed up until he was nearly on my bumper. THEN he got out of the car and came at me, waving his arms over his head.

WTF!

I checked my rearview mirror, saw that it was clear, and threw it into reverse. He was still walking towards me so I zipped around him and floored it to the hotel. I kept looking to see if he followed me but there was nothing but cabs.

I told Ibis what happened as soon as I entered the hotel and he grabbed a machete (yes, a machete) and ran out to the car. No one was there, thank god.

We've lived to see another day.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gee, road rage world wide.

Spy Scribbler said...

Holy moly! You are kidding me! That's a little scary, Melanie!

Anonymous said...

A machete! It was like a scene in "Romancing the Stone." Now all you need to do is get a romance novel published, and find a giant emerald. :)

Glad you are safe!

Melanie Hooyenga said...

It's not uncommon for people to have machetes around here - you often see men walking home with them - but I WAS surprised that he knew exactly where it was hidden.

Then he started talking about me needing a pistola, but I shot down (ha ha) that kind of talk.

Janna Leadbetter said...

Talk about scary! Holy cow, good job throwing it in reverse. I'd have been frozen stiff, watching him approach me. Kudos! And glad you're safe.

Melanie Hooyenga said...

You're not kidding. I was thinking afterwards that I'm very glad that was my immediate reaction.