Road rage, Swiss style

I witnessed an incident of road rage this morning unlike anything I've ever seen before. Let me set the scene. It's Tuesday morning, about 9:30. I've just finished my Tuesday morning Starbucks visit (while Henriette cleans our flat and irons Kirk's shirts). I'm walking on a busy downtown street to find a cash machine. Remember that pedestrians always have the right of way in Basel. As soon as you step into a crosswalk cars will stop. I almost got myself killed a few times last week in Madrid thinking I was in Basel. Believe me, cars do not stop for pedestrians in Madrid. The one exception to the Basel pedestrian street-crossing rule is the tram. All yield to trams. That's one of the first things I learned when moving to Basel-- don't ever walk in front of trams. It's also important to know that the streets in Basel are generally quiet. Nobody ever honks, and the only sound you hear from trams is an ocassional friendly "ding" from their bell as they leave a stop. So you can imagine my shock this morning from hearing a long, continuous Brrrrriiiiinnnnnnnggggggg!!!!!! from a passing tram. (Did that capture it?) Apparently two pedestrians crossed in front of the tram. Then, the tram driver actually stopped the tram, opened his window, stood up and yelled something very loudly at the pedestrians. Of course, it was in Swiss German so I have no idea what he said, but he was mad! In the very typical Swiss way, the two people just kept on walking and ignored the driver. You have to understand that this is about as exciting as it gets on the streets of Basel, so I'm sure this incident will be the talk of the town today (at least for the tram drivers).