after getting things thrown at me (a lit cigarette being the worst) a honk is not that bad. there are plenty of grown ups that don't know how to 'use their words' when out of a vehicle, so what makes us think that they can verbalize or even just 'deal' with their frustrations in a constructive manner. i had a guy in a conversion van, with little kids in it yell and cus at me that i should be on a sidewalk somewhere.
Life is a long race, and i always imagine the rude people i encounter as blowing a gasket many miles from the finish (fancy way of saying heart attack or stroke in their 50's)
YOU DON'T SUPPOSE there is an SUV Forums where there are people who say log on and say "and once, i had to alter my course and swerve into the other lane of oncoming traffic - well, there was no car there at the time and there was only me and that damn bike on the road..... but he expected me to just ease over a wee bit as if to say 'hello, i'm out for a little ride....beautiful day for a bike ride/......and then he said Merry XMas to me!!!! he must have been on drugs' i read in the paper that all those bike riders are on EPO and steroids and they have the 'roid rage, man!!! they scare me, so i honk and speed around to get the hell out of ther!!!!"