Earlier today, I (21M) was driving my mother (39F) and my younger brother (5M) to run some errands. My mother has a tendency to give unclear directions while I’m driving. Instead of saying “turn left” or “go straight,” she’ll point or use vague phrases like “that way,” which always stresses me out because I need to concentrate on the road.
Today, she was doing the same thing and as a result, I took a wrong turn. She got upset and started yelling, accusing me of not paying attention. I responded by saying, “I can’t read your mind, just tell me where to go.” This didn’t calm her down; instead, she continued to raise her voice.
Suddenly, she slapped me on the back of my head while I was still driving. I became very upset, especially since the slap nearly caused me to swerve, endangering us all.
I decided to pull over immediately and asked her to get out of the car. I was angry, perhaps raising my voice, but my primary concern was the safety risk she posed by hitting me while I was driving.
She was not happy with my decision and started yelling more, claiming I had no right to make her leave the car. She then took my little brother out with her, which made me feel even worse because I didn’t want him involved in this situation.
After about five minutes of her walking, I cooled down and returned to pick them up. The rest of the journey was silent and now I’m questioning if I overreacted. She hasn’t spoken much since we returned home but is clearly upset, believing I went too far.
People heard this story and said this you’re not the one at fault here! No one should ever interfere with the driver unless it’s an absolute emergency! Taking a wrong turn definitely isn’t an emergency unless you’re driving off a cliff. That was incredibly dangerous behavior on her part!