I am in a rotten mood.
Might as well just be honest about it.
Well I was, I feel better now, a little anyways mainly irked but overall pretty content.
It’s Thursday and ..well that’s it but I have a lot on my mind and got flipped off while I was driving cause I wasn’t really paying attention
Made me at once laugh and think aha! And when that happens well as we all know (or maybe you don’t) we have a Mental Moment.
Today’s Mental Moment…
is about Road Rage and the truth about the large number of idiot drivers out there.
Kind of. As always it is about so much more. 😀
How many times have you been out driving minding your own business and some idiot cuts you off or is ahead of you driving 10 mph below the speed limit or any other number of driving gaffes that directly affect you but you can not do anything about?
Caught at the right (wrong?) time, like if you are in a hurry or you are just fed up with self-centered people who read a sign 1/2 mile back that says the lane is closed ahead and while everyone else gets over forming a line except that one idiot who races up to the actual point where the road then bottlenecks to one lane, and then a bunch of other idiots follow, causing what should have been an orderly continued, albeit slower, stream of traffic to bottle neck up and stall out while the other idiots that don;t have the balls to say screw you let 15 cars in before you lay on your horn and threaten to drive right up their rear end because nobody taught them the rule of merging is every other car, it can set a normally laid back person off.
And you think to yourself – or scream loudly sometimes spraying spittle on your own windshield.. Where did all these idiots come from and why am I the only one that knows how to drive anymore?
That just cracks me in all kinds of ways normally. When I am driving with my 19 yo daughter and gripping the oh shit handle while she is lamenting everyone else’s poor driving skills, inside I just find that all kinds of funny and ironic and .. yea
Consider This;
All of us that have a driver’s license have pretty much had to demonstrate the same skills give or take a lane change or two depending on lots of things, in order to be issued said license to operate a motor vehicle. Right? I mean there may be a driver or two that is out there without a license but they had to learn somewhere. I know how to drive a semi. Trues story, I even almost got a license but I can drive those puppies and you wouldn’t know I didn’t have a license. I don’t do it anymore though. But I could.
So that goes to follow that everyone on the road pretty much knows how to drive and what the rules of the road are.. agree?
Let’s just agree for the moment we can discuss later. I mean it makes sense but if you want to disagree..
Anyways then it would be reasonable to assume (at least in my mind and I just am not much of an assumer – is that a word? oh never mind it is today.. ) that the only reason, or the plethora of reasons for people driving like idiots is merely that they aren’t paying any attention to what is going on around them. Autopilot.
I mean how many of you have had the strange thing happen where you leave work and the next thing you know you are home and you don;t remember how you got there, minus chemical substances that you shouldn’t be driving on anyways of course?
Autopilot and maybe a bad day, or in a hurry where you just aren’t feeling that considerate of your fellow-man? Or they I mean. Well we all have been guilty I have no doubt so Us. And who are “they” when they say they anyways?
So then we have the person with road rage. How does that happen? Maybe they are paying too much attention. Not sure. Or maybe a bad day, in a hurry or just not feeling that considerate of your fellow-man… and the idiots on autopilot are a good target for venting.
That’s a lot of lack of consideration going on out there people.
Drive responsibly, and considerately. Please.
wanna see what I drive?
To Your Mental State, whatever it may be…
Running Naked With Scissors 
my problem is i have no tolerance for laziness and bullcrap. this make me a road rage driver (inside my car) in a major way
I hear ya – but normally I only get mad at the ones who ignore the sign and think they should be able to get right up to the …. oh it snowballs. I am usually pretty laid back though.. I have been known to flip the bird once or twice… just once ok twice..
my dad once got really mad at someone while driving when I was a kid – probably 12 or so.. and he started to yell at him and my mom gave him a look and he had already said damn…so he called the guy a damn meatball and after a brief silence we all broke out into laughter…. yes we got and get a lot of mileage out of that.. so maybe being creatively funny might ease up the rage somewhat? I dunno just thought of it..
I have a couple of thoughts on what you wrote today Lizzie: 1) I recently had to drive completely across the city to a doctors appointment in the small town we lived in when we first moved to Alberta. Since we moved to the NE end of the city, I am not all that familiar with the traffic patterns here. Especially during morning rush hour. So it came as a complete surprise to me when construction closed down the curb lane just before the highway exit I needed. Then when I tried to get into the moving lane, there were a lot of very inconsiderate bleep-bleeps who wouldn’t let me in. I finally had to force my way into the lane & got the finger for my trouble.
2) I find traffic in Winnipeg very different from the traffic in NW Ontario which is also very different from traffic in Alberta. Supposedly all drivers are supposed to learn the same rules of the road? I think different places stress the importance of different rules & so people use shortcuts & get into bad habits based on where they learned to drive.
Your post was very pertinent today Lizzie!
one of these days I will learn not to reply to my comments on the orange flag thingy.. especially when it is long.. but you brought up some things that are good points to remember too that I missed.. and the being not sure of where you are going or coming up on construction that you didn;t know about… doesn;t deserve to be treated like that… it;s a very good thing for us all to remember to have a little more patience and maybe give the other person the benefit of the doubt.. and maybe I dunno help them out a little instead of flipping the bird? Sorry you got treated that way.. must be something in the air…
I live in Texas, in Dallas to be precise. People here drive like they have their heads in some place to rude to mention. If it rains their skills diminish. We all drive fast, unless it is rush hour, then we slow down except for the person who thinks they are special that person drives down the emergency lane at 80 mph until they want in front of you and there is only 1/2 a car length not the full car length they need.
I drive a really big car so I can squash most bad behavior.
ohhh that just burns my butt more than anything. We used to drive to and thru Dallas a lot in the big trucks – tried to avoid rush hour at all costs.. but I do think TX has the right idea with the higher speed limits on the open highway…and it just goes on FOREVER….. EL Paso was the WORST at rush hour – anytime really. I think I would have a really big car there too…
I am certain you can both appreciate it when I say Houston is the armpit of the traffic world. I still have nightmares about the 620 loop…after almost 25 years.
And I have no bourgeois guilt about driving an 8-cylinder, four door, long wheel base, 2.5 ton truck. None. Exactly.
❤
xxx
how much was that again ? 😀
Wait, let me count…Yes. None. *grins*
I really AM a better driver than everyone else. When I’m driving my car, I’m DRIVING MY CAR and not playing with my stereo, talking on the phone, texting, reading a book, enjoying the scenery, thinking about shopping lists, or wondering what’s for dinner. I PAY ATTENTION!
My number one request to all you other drivers … If you’re not passing, stay out of the passing lane! If there are no cars in front of you and a bunch behind you, move over!
that is the point I was getting at – itss not really about the level of skill we have it is about paying attention – pretty much how it is for everything in life – oh I forgot about the passing lane – I was taught you don;t get in the left lane on the open highway unless you are passing or if you drive there if someone comes up behind you – you move over so they can pass… I have been guilty of not seeing the person come up for a few minutes but I always get over – there are also so many things when driving around big semis that people don;t pay attention to – they have horrid blind spots that’s why there are signs and rules about passing semis on the right – don;t do it. I have seen many an accident caused by someone hanging out in a tractor trailers blind spot – or following too closely that the truck driver gets blamed for… all goes back to being immersed in out own little worlds…
I wrote something once about the question of; why is it that the person in front of me has nowhere to be and is in no rush to get there But the guy behind me is already late getting there? One more bit of knowledge that I have picked up along the way…”Everyone is an A$$hole to somebody sometime.” (Believe it or not that was a song that I heard only once in my life, and it obviously made an impression on me.) Great post Lizzie..One in which we can all identify.
P.S. I live in the Boston area..We are infamous when it comes to driving.. “Eye contact is a sign of weakness..” And “If you wanted to be in front of me…You should have left sooner”
HAHAHA eye contact is a sign of weakness.. lol One of my thoughts of the week for Happy talk was ..everyone is an idiot in someone’s village… or something like that it kind of works I will have to look it up…
I actually wasn;t going to use that title..i forgot to change it lol.. but yes people all over get it 🙂
I try and remember that whoever it is probably not that bad a driver all the time, and that I’ve made share of driving mistakes.
But if my girl is in the car, I’ll turn to her and say “What’s up with your boy (or girl)?”
She has a whole slew of people assigned to her that way, bad drivers all!
but if you turn to her and say that then you are taking you eyes off the road and not paying attention….ok just kidding cause really I just wanted to tell you that you …and I am not making this up… but it is kinda cool – I mean its not something I pay attention to but I did earlier and then to the comment that pushed it …because I may not notice it later when I dunno whatever – you just made my 6000 comment… six thousand… and i remember when I had 2…
Thanks 🙂 and I think its fitting… you rock always 🙂
I am a bad culprit for road rage – I have no patience for people driving 20 km under the speed limit , or blocking the overtaking lane so you cant get past them even though they are going so slow ! Hello , in Australia the left lane is for overtaking ! Why the hell cant you stay in the right lane if you are clearly not overtaking anybody or turning ?? LOL my sore spot 😉 I told my partner that I am dead set getting a megaphone so when this happens I can lean out the window and tell them exactly what is wrong with the way they drive 😉 Although I must agree with the autopilot thing – even I miss perfect driver ( yeah right lol) have been guilty of getting to my destination without remembering the trip – without indulging in drugs or alcohol first !! Xx Kel
hahahha I think the left lane is a common pet peeve – almost everyone seems to know that you pass on that lane so why are there so many idiots in it? ;lol.. the megphone is a great idea! I have been driving roun with open windows cause it is cooler and occasionally yelling – oops people can hear me.. i usually apologize cause I figure normally if I could tolerate whatever the y are doing then I m the crab apple not them…
which side of the road do you drive on? Is it hte same as here? or like England? and congrats on your good news… geez I am probably months behind – I forget how the time continues while I procrastinate. I am going to get over and check out the new blog soon… it wasn;t willful procrastination .. some stuff. Hope you are well 🙂
Thanks Lizzie ! Its ok , I am terrible with keeping up with my blogs – I can go 2 weeks without checking / writing then Ill spend a whole weekend on the internet ! lol 😉 We drive on the left side of the road here – they should make it the same side world wide , I have never been over seas but I bet its bloody confusing !!
Good to hear from you !! Hope all is well in your part of the world ( apart from idiot drivers ! ) 😀 Xx
lol – its confusing to drive on the left – aren;t you confused a lot 😉 I am already confused so i don;t know how yout do it… I couldn’t 😀
I really do get frustrated with the narrowing of the road business…and those that don’t want to follow the rules…I mean if everyone would just do the merge one car at a time….we’d all be happy…Diane
that is my main pet peeve – otherwise i could drive along happily minding my own business..