When an SUV cut them off, they felt they'd stumbled upon a unique teaching opportunity and that classes had to start early.
Some memories stick around, even when years have passed. One such memory shared by u/muphasta involved them leaving an IKEA parking lot, ready to head home after a long shopping day. Just as they were about to pull out, a massive SUV with a bold "For Sale" sign suddenly cut them off in traffic. The Reddit user and their wife had to slam on the brakes to avoid crashing into it and were left shaken by the recklessness of the SUV driver. But instead of brushing it off, they decided on a different course of action—a small yet satisfying form of payback.
"Wife and I were shopping at IKEA and when leaving, a giant SUV with a 'For Sale' sign and a phone number scribbled on it cut us off in traffic. It was blatant and we had to hit the brakes hard to avoid hitting them. I asked my wife to take a picture of the phone number and she did," they wrote in their post. The individual, who started work early, saw an opportunity to teach the SUV driver a lesson. "So, each day for the next two weeks, I would call the number to ask questions about the vehicle once I got to work," they added.
"Here is where it gets petty: I get to work at 5:30 AM. So, for nine weekdays (I get every other Friday off), I called the number at 5:30 from a phone far from my office in a common area. There was no way to tie the calls back to me as there were many of us arriving around that time too," they shared. For three days, the early morning calls continued, with the individual dialing the same number each time. By the fourth day, the phone rang unanswered. The SUV owner had caught on and stopped picking up the calls. However, this didn't stop the individual. They continued making the calls every weekday morning for two weeks, even after it became clear the owner was avoiding them. It became a small act of defiance that brought them a sense of satisfaction.
People on the platform lauded the individual and shared similar experiences and stories. "A landscaping company car switched off its headlights and started tailgating and coming up our rear end. Then overtaking us and then repeating. Luckily, we saw the mobile number on the car and called him and threatened to call the cops. He quickly took off. What a dumb dumb!" commented u/StrawberryRaspberryK.
"That's clever. Similar to the old one of getting your mates to ring every half an hour throughout the night, each asking, 'Is Ron there?' Then calling them yourself at 10 AM saying, 'Hi, it's Ron, any messages?'" added u/Expert_Temporary660. "Years ago, we saw a car with a for sale sign being driven aggressively. I turned the number and sent it off on my phone so it would show as a private number on his phone. I called the guy and said if he keeps driving like that, no one will want to buy his car," wrote u/MrsBurrill.