This Saturday I have been to Tegeler See and had this crazy February light showing off the winter colors of nature. The peacefulness of this hike – there have been quite some people because of the weather, and the forecast which predicted storms and rain starting Sunday – was interrupted, when I walked along the border of a residential area (Konradshöhe) with nearly no traffic. A car approached from behind me and honked. As there was a lot of space for the driver to pass, I shrugged my shoulders in a WTF?-gesture without turning around. He opened his window—a guy in his 60s or 70s—and swore at me in a very disturbing and loud way (cunt, ugly ass, fuck off, bitch). I asked quite calmly what kind of problem he had and he continued insulting me. When he started steering his car in my direction, I turned onto a small path into the forrest.
I was kind of upset for a while walking through the underbrush and even turned around several times to see if he would follow me. And I asked myself what leads people to behave like idiots?

It’s only February and there are already five dead cyclists in Berlin. And I’m guessing this kind of attitude is one the reasons for that.