You are walking down the main tunnel of the ferry. It’s chilly, misty, and cold: perfect Seattle fall weather.
Oh look. You see a car that resembles that of your friend or sibling or other family member. It looks like they’re also sitting in it!
It’s a lonely night, and you’re in high spirits and wish to talk to your friend.
You walk right up to the window. The person you see is turned away from the window, communing with her iPhone’s Free Cell game.
Do you:
a) look in quietly
b) gently tap on the window
c) KNOCK LOUDLY RAPIDLY ON THE WINDOW WHILE YELLING “HEY!”
C
You’re in high spirits tonight! The car echoes as you knock for 15 seconds straight on the window.
The person inside looks at you with a death glare.
The person is not your friend/sibling/other known person. And she looks like she’s going to kill you. Literally.
Do you:
a) apologize and walk away
b) run the fuck away from the crazy woman
B
Good choice! For about 15 seconds, the crazy woman saw her mother come back to stalk her and/or murder her. It would not have gone well.
The moral is: don’t knock on car windows when you aren’t 100% sure that’s someone you know. You might pick someone who triggers when nuts knock and yell outside their car door.
I hope you had a pleasant rest of the evening.
Spontaneous ∂erivation 
Once, when waiting for the spouse to bring the car around to where I was waiting, I cheerfully popped open the door to the passenger side of the car when it pulled up right in front of me at the curb.
It was not, in fact, our car. Or the spouse driving.
I have tried to get much better about the “make sure that’s the person you think it is before initiating contact” sort of thing since. For many reasons, and you have now given me one more to think about on that point.
Wow. Give the cows an extra hug for me, please.
Yeeech. Poor you.