The Fistfight that Almost Was

I welcomed a stranger to a fistfight today on the streets near my office in Seattle. I was walking home and about to cross the street when he rolled his big SUV right into the crosswalk, never looking my way. He was too busy looking at the traffic coming, trying to turn right on a red. That's why you can't turn right on a red in N.Y.--because pedestrians there rule. As I walked around him, I slapped my hand against the side of his truck. It caught him off guard. I looked back and he was staring at me. By the time I was safely on the other corner, he yelled out above the din of passing cars, "...fucking asshole." I turned and said, "Sure, why don't you come out of your car and say that." He drove off. I felt proud of myself, but also a little shakey. Thank god he wasn't some gun fanatic. It was a pointless thing to do. Like a guy at work once said, "You've got to make your peace with those kind of people."

I've been thinking some ideas for articles:

1. The differences between Los Angeles and New York, and what they mean to Seattle
   
2. The experiences I've had commuting on the ferry
   
3. Card-carrying rebels: How we live in this bizarro-Eisenhower era of omnipresent rebellion--for proof, every other advertisement from Madison avenue is trying to appeal to your rebel side
   
4. Practical Make-over No. 8: From Goth to Rockabilly. Okay, you just graduated--maybe from Junior High or High School or College--and you're starting to realize that this goth thing isn't going to be as permanent as you once thought. Your clique doesn't quite work the same way and that thing your mom said, about you and your friends being "different in identical ways," is starting to sink in. Don't worry, the rockabilly subculture offers a refreshing change that won't strain your credibility or your pocketbook. Here's how...