How We Took Down a Rude Driver: In the middle of the 2000’s, my friends and I discovered our favorite hangout joint, a small cozy billiard hall in the neighboring town. We went there every week to play for a few hours, speak about sports, and just enjoy our time together. Life seemed easy and drama-free up until that fateful one night that changed everything.
On that particular evening, as we usually did, we settled back into our routine. Our favorite billiards table, though, was taken over by this rude guy. No problem at first; we would continue chatting. When my friend asked him if we could have a turn, he showed utter disregard for us. Annoyed but polite, I reiterated our request; he ignored me again. It was obvious that he had no intention of allowing us to play.
Luck would have it; he got up from the table, and we took our chance and entered the game. Then when we put our quarters in place, something was amiss: the green “6” ball was missing. On investigation, we found out that the rude guy took it along to the bathroom. It was frustrating, and we resolved to report him to the manager. But the closing time was running down, so the manager didn’t want to make a scene.
He returned with a smile, as if he knew what he had done. He went to the patio to smoke, carrying his beer and the stolen ball. He threw the ball on the table as he came back, which again interrupted our game. That was the last straw.
One of my buddies said we should report the guy as a suspected drunk driver. Three out of four of us agreed to be part of the lesson teaching. We coordinated our Nextel push-to-talk to get his attention as he left the bar. Then, we all called in the highway patrol and described his erratic driving—going between lanes, almost into another car, and wild driving in general.
And sure enough, within less than 15 minutes, our strategy paid off. A friend who had followed him called us excitedly; he was pulled over by a police officer! Later, we learned from the police blotter that the guy wasn’t arrested for DUI but for driving with a suspended license.
What began as a night of good fun playing billiards became triumph over rudeness. Sometimes, a little teamwork can really go all the way in turning the tables on the inconsiderate.
