Great story, well told! I gotta ask though, when you saw that pickup, what were you feeling? I can imagine feeling "I'm saved!" and "I'm about to be murdered..." in equal measure.

Although if I was you, I'd have been emotionally spent at that point. Detached curiosity with some vague panic is a definite possibility.

As a side note, I have a couple of things in my past that were similar clusterfucks and bothered me for years. Intrusive thought stuff. But anyways, once I shared the stories, the events became less traumatic. In the event this isn't just a funny story, and you feel a certain way about it, I'm optimistic that sharing it here could be helpful.

Thanks for sharing, take care!

Edit: Sweet username by the way.

The old man sounds like a bully. As in, he targeted you and fucked with you, because that's what bullies do. I'm 95% certain he would've done the same things even if you immediately understood and gave him the seat.

It seems like you'll regret your actions either way, but sometimes shit just happens. There's no perfect path through life, even if every move you make is flawless.