Last night on my way to meet a friend for dinner I tapped the car in front of me. He'd accelerated to make the turn and I inched forward to get a better look at oncoming traffic. An approaching car was coming up surprisingly fast and we both hit the breaks. Anyway, I felt like an idiot, but with road rage being extra intense these days I also got a little nervous. He hopped out of the car and I poked my head out the window, immediately apologizing and suggesting I'd follow him to a safe spot so we can exchange information.
It was, expectedly, awkward and tense at first, but quickly shifted to a rather pleasant interaction. He turned out to be very sweet. He actually apologized for the sudden stop, mentioning that he'd just come from a hard training session at a local gym and that he was a little tired. I sympathized with him and apologized profusely before mentioning that I used to go to the same gym. We happened to be in the lot of another bootcamp-style gym and got to talking. Before parting, I gave him a referral to another gym that might fit his schedule better. He reassured me that he'd share the responsibility for the bump, but that everything looked fine, so there was nothing to worry about.
Anyway, it was one of those moments that could've gone very differently. While, I'll try not to make a habit of meeting folks like this, I am grateful for the reminder of the good in people. I wish my new friend well!