When it comes to a contest of wills, civilians should never take on an old Senior Chief. We are slow to get angry; we more often find means to tie up some sea-lawyer, arrogant know-it-all, or clueless idiot in creative and thoughtful ways. This was one such day for me on the way home on a horrible stretch of highway in San Diego called the “merge”.
As a career navy man, I understood a few principles that I carried with me when I traded the sea for the concrete highways. Rules. Courtesy. Respect for the vessel in your charge and for those around you. Knowledge of proper procedure on operating in your lane.
This is not just the required skills of seamanship, ones which have been called into question in the Seventh Fleet, but applicable to navigating highways in Southern California. This afternoon, a woman who determinedly was going to force me off the road was one such person. I was properly merging but was forcibly kept in the berm by this person who matched me mile for mph, and got as close as 2 inches from my door handle. Collision at sea? Had I a five inch gun, you might have read about it in the national news. Stand by to repel boarders!
Truths, Half-truths, and Sea Stories 