Am I the only person who has infrequent yet regular interactions with someone simply to pretend to be annoyed? A few weeks ago, a man in a blue sedan was going at least twice the speed limit down the hill toward the Scull Creek bridge.  I had more than enough time to cross the street, so I did. The man in the car stopped very quickly considering the speed he was going. He backed up a little and put his window down. I will call him Chad. I calculate there is a 1 in 74 chance that is his actual name. 

“Hey, you need to be more careful,” he hollered at me. 

“I’m not sure that caution will help me with low flying blue aircraft like the one you are piloting.”

He couldn’t help himself. The irritation disappeared from his face. “Fair enough. You should use the crosswalk.”

“And you should watch for low power lines,” I fired back at him. Both of us were smiling at this point. He waved, put his window up, and sped away. 

A couple of weeks ago, he saw me standing by the bridge. He slowed down and put down his passenger window. 

“Still running your insurance scam?”

I laughed. “Yes, because your mom says I don’t make enough at my job to support us both.”

He laughed, waved, and drove away. 

Today, I saw him coming from the other direction for once. He put down his window as he slowed. There was a car behind him. 

“Mom asked me to tell you to bring home a loaf of bread on the way,” he said, obviously remembering my last joke. 

Because of the car behind him, I didn’t want to hold him up so I gave him two thumbs up and laughed. He laughed too, as he drove away. 

When we are firing back and forth at each other with commentary, it feels exactly like a hidden camera sitcom. 

The interactions make me feel literal joy. Maybe because it all started with a flash of irritation. But now I’m on the hook for clever comebacks. I guess I’ll ask his mom while she is cooking us dinner tonight. 

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