I already have a neighbor pissed off at me.

 

November 21, 2010 at 2:07 AM

I haven't even been in my new rented house a month, and I already have a neighbor pissed off at me. 

 

Because of the nature of my job, I am accustomed to operating vehicles in confined areas, very close to one anther.  I forget that most people have neither my skill nor my tolerance for such things. 

 

Coming home from work I drove eastbound on 36th Av, just north of the alley where I park.  It's a nice, wide street.  There's on-street parking on the South side of the street, and several cars were parked there. 

 

One of the neighbors from the East end of the street got into his car and started heading West. 

 

Now, to my mind, this street is more than wide enough to carry 3 cars abreast, especially small cars like my Honda and my neighbor's little Ford compact.  Thinking this, I drove right down the middle of the street, keeping close to the line of parked cars, thinking my neighbor had plenty of room to get by me. 

 

If it were another Ramp Agent driving that car then there wouldn't have been a problem.  Alas, there wasn't. 

 

If he had driven by the curb then there would have been a good two, or maybe even three feet of clearance between our side mirrors, and a good foot or two between him and the curb.  That's enough room for a Ramp Agent that he, like me, wouldn't even slow down. 

 

He beeped his horn, shook his fist, and I'm sure shouted a few choice words as I drove by him. 

 

My first thought was "What the hell was _that_ all about?"  It took a few minutes to dawn on me that he thought that street wasn't wide enough for the both of us.  For anyone who isn't accustomed to driving in seriously congested, confined areas, I suppose he's right. 

 

But one thing I can definitely tell him: If driving 3 abreast along a street as wide as 36th Av makes him nervous then driving in the Tunnel at Tampa International Airport would curl his teeth.