After I finished my appointment with the neurosurgeon today, I swung by a McDonald's a few blocks away from the hospital. I made a left turn off one street which was followed by an immediate right turn to get into the drive-thru lane. This turn proved to be more difficult than usual because safety orange construction cones narrowed the corner. The drive-thru lane could hold one more vehicle, so I carefully turned my truck into the entrance, avoiding both the cones and the oncoming traffic.As I eased to a stop close to the car in front of me, the sound of a blaring horn rattled my ears. My mirrors revealed a giant, black Dodge Hemi truck directly behind me housing a very angry driver. The huge, construction-worker-looking guy was pounding on the horn, yelling and gesturing at me. I interpreted his movements as best I could and determined that I had accidentally cut him off and took his spot in line. I was trapped in the drive-thru. There was no room to turn out and leave or move forward.
He continued to honk, yell and gesture at me as the back of his truck was still in the street. As the next car in line provided space for me to move forward, he floored the gas and pounced towards me. He stopped just shy of smashing my bumper. By this time, the honking had ceased, but he was still yelling and gesturing.
When he was finally out of the street and fully into the drive-thru, the passenger door on his truck opened. A tough looking, sun burnt man in overalls and no shirt got out. His head was shaved and the only facial hair he sported was a light brown goatee. He crossed in front of the Dodge truck and walked between the curb and the driver's side of my truck. Here comes my first ass kicking.
As you know, with my recent surgery, I was in no shape to fight. Not to mention that it is not my nature to fight. I felt the adrenaline rush and my heart was pounding. I left the window up and stared directly forward using only peripheral vision to monitor him. He walked straight past my window without emotion and into McDonald's. Whew!
Space had once again opened in front of me, so I moved forward in the drive-thru. The engine in the Dodge truck revved again and lurched forward, stopping shy of the bumper once again. The man still yelled and gestured. He continued to intimidate by lurching forward until it was my time to order. I had to roll down the window and I was now at an angle where he could look right at me.
"Would you like to try a southwest salad?" the radio screeched.
As I tried to order, the man rolled down his window and began screaming obscenities at me. The woman in McDonald's couldn't understand me and I had to repeat. She finally got the order, and I moved forward with his continued yelling.
I paid with my Visa debit card and then waited to move on. He was ordering, politely, and I heard his voice over the speaker. If the cars in front of me had gotten their food quickly enough, there would have been a gap between me and crazy Dodge truck driver while he paid.
No such luck.
I heard his engine rev once again and he came flying around the building towards the back of my truck. He stopped in time and then began yelling and gesturing again. His friend that had gone in the restaurant earlier was standing beside the back of my truck holding his food. He was waiting until the Dodge pulled forward to get back in. At least HE seemed civilized.
The cars in front of me moved forward again and I held out my hand for my food. I threw it in the seat as quickly as possible, but there was still enough time for the Dodge to lurch forward and intimidate once again. At last, I had my order in hand and took off towards the exit. I snaked through a grocery store parking lot and took an obscure exit. I never saw him after that.
I've been in situations where a driver has been upset at me for one thing or another, but they've always stopped pretty quickly or I was able to get away from them. This was so unnerving. I was trapped in the drive-thru with a very angry person only 10 feet away. Sheesh!
The doctor inspected my incision for about 4.3 seconds. He rubbed his hand over the lumpiness under the skin and then explained to me that the underlying tissue was being bound by internal stitches. The lumps should flatten out over 3 to 6 months as the stitches dissolve and only a thin white line should remain. Sounds good to me, I hope it turns out that way.
I am released from most of my restrictions, but he asked me to ease back into them over the course of a month. Extreme twisting, and especially twisting while lifting, are still prohibited. Those probably aren't a good idea for a healthy back either. He said I could bend down to put my shoes and socks on again. Swimming and baths (ew) are allowed too.
He said that I could start mowing again in about a month. I'll probably wait a little longer unless I feel really good or I get completely fed up with our hired lawn mowers. He said that I need to wait at least six months to ski, play basketball, football or other sporty activities that could jar my back. Shouldn't be difficult avoid them since I didn't do any of them before the surgery.
The doctor said that the aches, numbness and weakness will come and go over the next 6 months to a year. He says that the normal course of nerve repair and scar tissue formation has those symptoms.
Unless there is some change in my condition sooner, I go back for a checkup in 6 weeks. If all is good then, it will be my final visit with the neurosurgeon.
5 comments:
All good news, except the crazy drive-thru rage. I'm amused that the passenger was so disinterested in the driver's anger that he left the vehicle to get his food inside. It would appear his actions were not out of the ordinary and he's just an asshole.
Julie, I never thought of that point of view. Maybe he was just an asshole and the passenger didn't want to be part of it. Good thinking.
Your situation in the drive-thru brought back some scary memories for me. I squeezed into a parking spot next to a truck that had parked almost right on the line on their driver's side (I had a little car and could fit). Apparently this pissed off the driver when he got back to his truck, so he waited until I came out of the store, got in my car and started to leave, then he came screaming across the parking lot where he'd been waiting and watching. He blocked my car so I couldn't move and yelled obscenities at me for a minute, then screamed off across the parking lot and left. No harm came to me, but I was scared out of my mind on the way home, thinking he might follow me or something. I don't understand people like this.
People are nuts. The other day I was in a food store at the bakery counter. For some reason I can't recall, I was pre-occupied and not paying attention to who was around me or the timing of our arrivals. There was no line. Anyway, a clerk asked to take my order and I proceeded to give it, when the woman beside me announced that she'd been there first. I apologized profusely and told her I just wasn't myself. The clerk decided to finish serving me anyway. The woman couldn't let it go. She huffed and fumed and spoke loudly to no one in particular about the rudeness of some people. Whatever, lady. When I left I reminded her that I'd apologized and there wasn't much more I could do and if this was the worst thing in her day she should count her lucky stars.
tss, don't trip out you took the guys spot. at least all he did was honk.. and uncivilized? whatever pussy.
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