road rage on a deserted street

just moments ago, a horn beeped and a woman's voice shouted, "get off my ass, bitch!"

another woman's voice yelled back, "i'm not on your ass, bitch!"

i looked up from the morning paper to see two cars stopped at the stop sign across from our house, one behind the other. they looked like the same car--two light-colored, toyotaesque sedans. each had a lone woman driver--an angry lone woman driver. each was flashing her blinkers for a left turn. maybe they were twins. they looked like twins.

there was no other traffic.

more shouting from the first car.

more shouting from the car behind it.

still no other traffic.

more shouting. i moved to the porch door to spy more efficiently. the dogs ran over next to me, wagging their tails with joy. this was the most excitement our neighborhood has had since the whistler woke us all up with his shouts.

the women appeared to be at a standoff. they stubbornly sat at the stopsign, blinkers flashing. no more shouting. no other traffic. just a beautiful late summer morning, and two angry women at a standoff.

how would they resolve this?

finally, the woman in back peeled out, passed the woman in front, made her left turn and zoomed down chatsworth. the other car followed. for all i know, they ended up shouting at each other again at the next stop sign three blocks down.

"ah," said doug, when he came downstairs. "the lincoln-douglas debates."