Ski Rage...

Although slightly less well-known than Road Rage, I recently read about one instance and witnessed another just this past weekend. In the first incident a little girl gets hit by snowboarder, the enraged father starts attacking the snowboarder, who although wearing a helmet turns out to be a 16 year old girl. It was the classic hit and then get pummeled by an angry 52 year old. I guess I just don't understand people who explode like that. Yes I can see getting angry -- but hitting a teenage girl?? Who does that?? You're skiing, you're supposed to be having fun, and accidents do happen. I know a little girl made an unexpected turn in front of me a few weeks ago, and I almost hit her -- was I close to getting into fisticuffs??

The second incident was more disturbing, although only because I was an eye witness who may have even contributed to the problem. To set the stage, this past Sunday morning I was at Breckenridge (surprise, surprise). Sarah was still getting over a cold (she's finally on the mend today), so I ended up going by myself. After a great morning of skiing, I was in the parking lot getting ready to head home. It was about lunch time, so my plan was to go ahead and eat in the car before hitting the road. A Dodge Stratus saw myself and another skier across from me getting our gear off, and appeared to be waiting to take one of our spaces. I was thinking don't wait on me, because I still have a lunch to eat, but my powers of ESP failed. After about a good 5-10 minutes, I noticed another car behind me also waiting. As you can imagine the fireworks were about to start. The second car pulled into the vacated space across from me, and the Dodge starting laying on his horn. The guy jumped out of the Dodge, started yelling at the other guy, and they both were in each other's faces. The Dodge guy pushed the other guy over his car, but no one took a swing. Eventually, I guess the second car guy relented and moved his car for Dodge Stratus guy.

Two observations on this: 1) This guy was basically the same as the Will Farrell SNL skit yelling "You do not talk to me like that!! I work too hard to deal with this stuff!! I work too hard!! I'm a Division Manager in charge of 49 people!! I drive a Dodge Stratus!!" Apparently he and his Dodge Stratus were way too important to lose a parking space. 2) He had a car full of passengers (presumably his wife and kids). How could his wife not be embarrassed and the kids not be completely screwed up. It amazes me that a complete asshole can have a family...

Take my stories as a warning, Ski Rage could break-out at a ski slope near you...