Boston driving, with a human face

The warmer weather apparently is enabling Boston drivers to be jerks to one another in more personal ways. Now that more windows are rolled down, intravehicular communication has moved from pantomimed abuse to more direct verbal confrontation.

In the last two days, I've witness no less than three different incidents in which one driver has yelled at another driver, usually as one leaned out the window--once in Allston Village, once in Brighton Center, and once in Harvard Square.

Though any kind of confrontation makes me squirmy inside, I found these incidents oddly refreshing for the human faces involved. No longer were the emotions bottled up inside tons of steel and glass; instead, people were interacting with each other in person, however abusively. As a biker, I get tired of having large, impersonal containers cut me off and open their doors in front of me. Now perhaps I'll be able to express my frustration to someone who can actualy hear me.

But this window of face-to-face interaction is only open for a short time. Soon it will close again as the temperature rises and the air-conditioners again cool drivers down behind sealed glass.