Wednesday, May 23, 2007

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

Rant Alert: I will be whining and complaining about humanity and traffic. And some foul language that does not include the F word.

This morning is not the first time it happened to me. This morning isn't even the angriest I have ever been about this. But this morning is when I decided that I had to blog about this to see if other people were experiencing this (and also to determine if those that I think are my friends are actually the enemy).

So what am I talking about? I'm talking about the great driving phenomenon of two lanes merging into one lane, and those rat-bastards that believe that they are better than everyone else and can speed around to the front of the line, slowing the traffic even more. WHO THE F ARE THESE PEOPLE!?! Do they not give a crap that everyone has been merging the past .5, 1, or even 10 miles (because of the missplaced sign) and they are like "wow, this is such a clear lane, why are all these other chumps over there?". That's the thing of it; these people aren't oblivious, they know damned well what they are doing. They think that the rules don't apply to them. These are the same assholes that when a cashier opens a new line at the grocery store and they are at the end of a 10 person line, run over to that line and get served immediatly. Why is this so hard for people? Mircea and I went to the My Chemical Romance concert and waited in the longest line known to man because people would ignore the sign that said "Merriweather Post Pavilion: Right Lane Only" and would speed around us only to cut back in front of us right at the turn. This is not a way for traffic to move...this is a way to back up traffic more as everyone brakes, honks, and tries to block out people. The missplaced sign thing is awesome too. Several years ago on a trip to North Carolina to see my parents, there was a sign just North of Raleigh-Durham that said "Right lane closed ahead" and so the majority of people got over at beginning and other people sped around them for several miles only to find that there was never a problem. It was a disaster and added like 45 minutes to our trip.

Does this piss anyone else off? Anyone have any stories to tell? I get angry at these people because it truly hurts me to my core. I feel like it isn't just a person going "der, I'm the only one in this line" I really believe that it is people going "you know what, I can get ahead of this passive people that are following the rules, and I will, because I can."

7 comments:

Missy said...

you are a funny girl. :)

Unknown said...

I hear you on this! I once had a merging battle with a truck driver that almost ran me off the road. Fucking asshole.
But yeah, I can't stand those people that drive in the closed lanes. I never, never, never let them over.

SweetwaterBob said...

"you know what, I can get ahead of this passive people that are following the rules, and I will, because I can."

This sums it up pretty well. Somewhere in their up-bringing, the idea of fair play and being curteous to others was never taught.
I ride a Motorcycle as my main mode of transportation and your write-up on these alpha types is right up there with people driving while talking on cells phones in my list of driving pet peeves.

kismetsCIRCUS said...

Uh dude! I live in the city and that's more then norm than not. It happened to me three times yesterday. The best part is when the coast is clear, me speeding past them in my little Corolla as if they're standing still. They're peckerheads, whatever though.

Marc said...

I think that time in North Carolina was way more than 45 minutes, but it might've just seemed longer because I was seething with rage the entire time.

Then there was the next time we went back and the sign was still up- we thought "We're not gonna get fooled again!" and we stayed in the "closing" lane for awhile amidst all of the honking and middle fingers. Of course, the lane did close, and we had to reluctantly admit that we were "those people."

Anonymous said...

I agree with Sweetwaterbob- I HATE people that drive while chatting on their cell phones. They never even see that they were the one that made a car slam on their breaks to prevent what the dumbF almost caused while paying attention to their phone instead of driving.

As for the people that end up merging last minute it irritates me as well but we have all been there at some point whether it was on purpose (lets hope not) or by accident.

drqshadow said...

As a rule, I ignore those signs until I physically see cones, workmen or a giant flashing arrow in the distance. I guess that makes me one of "those people"?