A car pulled out in front of me. The move was mildly reckless. As it passed, I noticed a large dent on the side of the vehicle.

Some observations:

1. Upon seeing the dent, I created a story that fit what I saw. “This is an unsafe driver who is likely to cause accidents. This dent is evidence.”

2. What I witnessed may or may not be typical of this driver. There’s no way for me to know. Nonetheless, I told myself the story that it was on-brand.

3. A mile down the road, I was in a parking lot at the same lunch spot as this vehicle — quite happy I hadn’t created a scene earlier.

The whole thing reminded me to not always believe the stories I invent about people (based on ten-second interactions). And also, there are plenty of times when not escalating a situation is a prudent choice.