A taxi cut me off in a dangerous and unexpected manner. I reacted, instantly enraged. I began to pursue the offender to explain his folly. I was unprepared for the upcoming drama. On my quick approach, with me filling his rear-view mirror, the taxi driver hit his brakes suddenly. My reactions were up to the challenge. I continued to dog him closely, waiting for an opportunity to vent. He tried the sudden braking tactic again with no success. I was still on his tail, but he seemed nowhere near his destination. I assumed his passenger was growing concerned, in the same manner as Debbie, who stressed beside me. The ordeal seemed to be coming to a close when he finally pulled over. I waited to see what came next, but the cabby didn’t move. When I opened my door to approach, he immediately pulled away from the curb. Now I was hopping mad! But I made the mistake of forgetting taxi radios. I jumped back behind the wheel and resumed pursuit. I followed him right into a dead-end court to be encircled by five other taxis who had responded to his radio request for help. They exited their cabs and demanded I do the same to face them. Five to one didn’t bode well.
I immediately locked my doors, making sure my windows were up. As the cabbies slapped my hood, roof and windows, creating an intimidating din, they pressed for a showdown. I stayed put and indicated that they were crazy. I said I was “just driving my car.” Debbie sat beside me, pale as a ghost with eyes as big as saucers, visibly shaken. The cabbies departed after the initial offender made good his escape. Still unsatisfied, I called the police to complain about the driver. I had his cab number, but after my explanation, the duty cop said they could do nothing because they had not witnessed the incident. The cop said the cabby probably thought I was going to rob him. Still fuming, I called the cab company and got a similar story from the dispatcher. He assured me the driver was on his way out, implying that he faced dismissal because of similar past complaints. Getting nowhere, I had to let the matter rest.