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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/ThePeenMachin3 on 2026-08-15 01:25:30+00:00.
I (22M) am writing this to get some advice on how to handle being completely in the wrong. I was driving to work and decided to stop by a cafe to get a coffee on the way. I was on a residential street when a guy driving a longer vehicle was doing a 3 point turn by reversing into a driveway.
I was totally impatient and drove through when the gap was just big enough as he reversed. The guy then honked at me and drove behind me flashing his high beams a few times. In response, I flipped him off out the window. Immature, I know.
The cafe was at the end of this residential street, so when I pulled into the carpark, he drove past, what I didn’t realise was that he had decided to park on the street. So then, I’m inside and just finished ordering my coffee when he comes in. He’s a middle aged guy, and I don’t immediately recognise him as the same dude until he says “mate, was it worth the one second you saved by getting through that gap?”. It immediately irked me. I puffed out my chest and starting going on about him needing to “resit (his) test if (he) can’t pull off a three point turn” and “if (he) wants a problem (he) can have one” etc…
As soon as I got confrontational he disengaged with the conversation and went silent, waiting for me to walk away before approaching the counter to order his coffee. While I was waiting I felt terrible about how I acted, I sat with it until I got my coffee. I approached him and said “that was impatient and rude of me, I apologise” and offered to shake his hand, which he didn’t reciprocate but did kind of give me a nod.
Since then I’ve just felt really guilty all day, I want to be better than that. I don’t want to intimidate people and I feel like a wannabe macho, brutish idiot. It’s not the first time I’ve been too quick to anger either. I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice for how to handle situations like this without letting pride get in the way in the moment. I always seem to think I’m in the right when it’s happening, but then feel terrible after, I hate thinking that my ignorance has ruined someone’s day.
TL;DR Squared up to a guy at the cafe after road rage, I’m in the wrong.