25.08.2002
feeling kinda
i swear, it's worse than ever this week. driving in Boston is no treat most days. and i've ranted at length about it before. i don't mean to bore you by ranting again. but i need to blow off a little steam somewhere where it doesn't involve someone else's front end.
coming back from the sail yesterday, i was tired. i was trying hard to pay attention. and i was staying in the slow lane, because everything seems faster when you're tired. i had the window open, and a funky radio station on, to help me concentrate.
seems the fuckwad in the next lane over could have used some of the same help. yet another case of 'let's toy with the idea of changing lanes, but not commit, just try them all on for size, while callously disregarding the existence of a single other driver on the road, because yes, i do own it, thank you very much'. all of a sudden, this rusty red pickup truck (and not a nice red, but primer red) was drifting towards my front end.
woke *me* right the fuck up, i'll tell you. i leaned on my horn to get his attention, and then dropped back to stay behind him. if he's going to pull a move like that again, i'd prefer to have him in my sights. fortunately, he drifted to the next exit ramp after that.
*sigh* maybe it has something to do with being on the South Shore. i've heard tell of drivers being worse on the South Shore. sounds like a bad bedtime story, doesn't it? 'i've heard tell...' they whispered, gathered around the camp fire.
and that's happened a lot this week, people changing lanes in my blind spot. happened another time last night, too. this time, i honked and swerved, because i knew the lane to my right was empty. shit, if you're going to do that, do it with grace and style. rev the engine, figure out your blind spots, and cross three lanes at once. do it with gusto, damn it!
maybe it has to do with the students coming back this week. lots of out of town drivers, on unfamiliar roads... okay, i'll cut a few of them slack for that. some of it is clearly not knowing where you're going. but hell, the road rules aren't that different here than elsewhere, unless lanes are optional in some part of the country that i'm unfamiliar with.
the piece de resistance was the idiot in front of me on the way home tonight. same road i always take home. yes, there are a lot of stop signs, blinking reds and full on stop lights. this idiot, however, was stopping at every damn driveway. not even stopping, just driving at 10 mph and slowing down even more. no signals. no signals! they're optional! whoo hoo! after about three blocks of this, i flicked my high beams at him. now, where i come from, that's the signal to get out of the way. at this point, i had three cars behind me, in ass to mouth formation (thanks to Chica for that lovely phrase for bumper to bumper traffic). does he move? does he speed up? does he use signals? no!! a few more blocks, and now i'm hunched over the steering wheel, screaming 'so *help* me god, if you stop for the green light, i will KILL you!'
guess what, boys and girls? he stopped for the green light.
at that point, i slammed on my high beams and tailed him. i don't care that it was rude. his 'style' of driving was at the point that it was endangering other drivers. who the fuck stops for a green light? who?!
i really have to work on my anger issues.
