A little courtesy, please...

I remember the day when drivers were polite to one another...it wasn't that long ago, I was a kid...so maybe it was a while ago...but I do remember sitting in the car while my dad drove us to the places that we went as a family, which was rarely far from home. Whenever he needed to merge or change lanes, he would turn on his blinker and people would allow him to do what he needed to get where he needed to go. After he had changed lanes or merged he would raise his hand in courtesy as a "thank you" to the kind person who had let him in. The opposite was true as well. If my dad noticed a driver that needed to move into the lane in front of him, he allowed it to happen. When the other driver raised their hand in thanks my dad waved back...a polite unspoken conversation. Today, that is so not the case. If I turn on my blinker or try to merge into another lane, drivers speed up, like I am butting in line if I get in front of them. If I do happen to move over when needed, I raise my hand in thanks, usually 3 or 4 times, but I rarely get a response. When I kindly and patiently let another car move in front of me, I find myself raising my hand to them and saying, "you're welcome" even though it is rare to get a thank you from another driver. People are in such a hurry, and for what? Where do you have to be so quickly? In today's world there really is no reason to rush. Heaven forbid you have to call someone on your cell phone in your car to let whomever you are meeting know if you will be a little late. Is allowing someone to move in front of you really going to be the thing that makes you late anyway? If you are running that late, you should have left earlier...your bad! D is one of those that does not like people to change lanes in front of him. I usually try to calm him down by saying something to the effect of, "His 5 seconds are probably more important than yours." This doesn't usually work...

The one thing that really does bother me is when lanes are merging down to eliminate a lane or two, and people act selfishly about getting to the front, like no one else is sitting at a dead stop waiting for those that can't wait themselves. I do think that it is very rude to drive all the way to the front of the line where the lanes are actually eliminated and then try to cut over. I believe these are the people that should not be allowed to drive during peak times I actually think that you should have to obtain a special license to be allowed to drive during rush hour times. This could alleviate some serious headaches for impatient drivers, as this is when everyone else thinks that everyone else that is on the road with them is an idiot. If you had to have a special license declaring that you were not an idiot, then everyone would have no one to blame but their own impatience.

D is also one of those that thinks that the majority of drivers are "idiots." He always blames stupidity of drivers on the location that we are in, for example he will say, "stupid (insert city or county name here) drivers!" I love talking to my husband, except for while he is driving. I actually pointed out to him the other day that I do, in fact, think that there is a conspiracy between all the people in our county against him and his drive to and from work. I think that everyone that drives like an "idiot" sits in their homes or offices and waits until that exact moment that D is heading for the road himself, and then they leave and drive the same path he is going to take, just to tick him off! He has sooo many stalkers, because they actually show up almost everywhere we go. And when they aren't there, he points it out to me, and I get so excited that we somehow slipped past them and our ride will be pleasant, and free of fear, and me holding on to the "oh, crap" handles for dear life.

Next time you are able to move into another lane because of the courtesy of someone else, if you look in your rearview mirror and seeing them waving at you, it might just be me...