I really wanted to write something today and I could only think of one thing. I guess this is another vent or frustration post, but I have to deal with this every day (you probably do, too). I drive myself to and from school every day (except the weekends of course) and I usually find myself in a particularly bad mood after doing so. Don’t get me wrong: I love to drive. Sometimes it’s nice to be alone, to listen to music, and to just reflect. However, I feel like there are a very, very, very small number of actually good drivers out there. And when I say small, I really mean small. Maybe it’s just me, but when a car with no lights pulls out in front of the car next to me and continues to glide into my lane, I can’t help but think, “UM WHAT ARE YOU DOING? HI I’M THE CAR THAT’S NOW DIRECTLY BEHIND YOU…CAN YOU NOT SEE ME? OKAY, NOPE, CLEARLY NOT. PLEASE DON’T HIT ME.” Okay, okay, there are usually some harsher words when I have this little one on one conversation in my head with the car ahead (or whichever car was stupid enough to nearly collide with me). I now present to you: Dos and Don’ts of Driving:
- DO: stick to a schedule.
- DON’T: change it up on a rainy day. This happens. All the time. On those rare sunny days, everyone decides that they don’t actually have anything to do and tend to stay inside. On the rainiest of days, traffic is crazy and everyone decides that they really do have things to do and therefore making it harder for me to get to school. Please. Clearly, everyone’s priorities should be based on how quickly you want me to get to school (okay, I’m kidding….but seriously: stick to your usual schedule…it really throws me off)
- DO: stay in your lane (unless you really need to be in the other lane—and when I say ‘really’, it better be a life or death situation because that lane is mine)
- DON’T: switch lanes without signaling. That’s really dangerous. It’s also really annoying. I’m just driving along and BOOM: suddenly someone stupidly (for my little sister: hey look it’s alliteration) decided that they really needed to be in my lane and proceeded to follow that instinct without signaling (the whole point of your signal is to let me—and other drivers—know that you’re moving or changing lanes…it’s really not that difficult.
- DO: pay attention…even at red lights.
- DON’T: check your phone or mess with your music at a red light (or while driving). Seriously. I got rear-ended by someone who was changing their music or texting. The light turned green, and they clearly thought that they could drive through my car or something (side note: cars don’t really have a ghost-like tendency: you can’t drive through them).
- DO: stay within the speed limit…
- DON’T: go so slow that I just want to rip my eyes out. It’s not fair. We all have places to go…so just go. I thought about giving a lecture on speeding here, but I’m sure you’re all really good, diligent drivers who go exactly at or below the speed limit in fear of being pulled over.
Well, I hope that was helpful. I found it helpful. Always find a way to vent about your problems. It’s not good to bottle them up (even the ones that involve anger towards your fellow drivers). Have a good rest of the day!
Also, don’t forget to follow Lots of Love, Seattle on Twitter!
i hate when cars use their blinkers constantly (do they not hear them??!!) so you never know if they’re actually going to turn/get into your lane.
That sucks about the rear-ending thing. We got rear ended because someone didn’t stop at a crosswalk, and there was a huge group of kids crossing. Good thing we were there, or else they would’ve hit the kids! It still put a damper on our vacation though :(