React First, Think Later

I was headed down to my dad's house the other morning and was stopped at the stop light at a major intersection. To the left of me was another vehicle, and in the crosswalk to the left of him was a pedestrian walking a bicycle across the street to our right. As the pedestrian crossed in front of the vehicle to my left, the guy in the vehicle recognized him as a friend, so he honked his horn and waved at him. The pedestrian apparently didn't see him wave, but he gave him a funny look and continued walking. As he passed my car, he turned around and gave the man the one-finger salute. I looked at the guy in the car, but he didn't seem to be reacting, just looking straight ahead. Then I watched the pedestrian as he reached the sidewalk. He walked a few more feet, then slowed down and just as he was turning around, I realized he was having second thoughts. It was as if he was thinking, "Hmm...maybe that was someone I know. I better look and see." Sure enough, he seemed to recognize the car and started waving at him, but the man in the car didn't react at all. So I looked back at the pedestrian and now he seemed to be rather anxious, trying to wave and get the guy's attention. It was as if he was thinking "Man, I really screwed up. That's my friend. Uh-oh." About that time, the light turned green and as we started to go, I noticed the guy in the car had his right turn signal on. So, I backed off so he could change lanes in front of me. Not only did he change lanes, he scooted all the way across the boulevard to the extreme right lane, presumably so he could turn into the first drive way and get back to where his "friend" was standing on the sidewalk.

I thought to myself how said that people react first, think later, and always assume the worst. No wonder the world is in such a mess.