Tuesday March 20, 2007

I'm what you might call an aggressive driver. Well more accurately, a passive aggressive driver -- can you be a passive aggressive driver? I'm all bark and no bite. I'm the impatient person behind you at a GREEN light who honks when you sit there too long. But I would without a doubt cower and run if you stood up to me.

Here's the thing. I am able to recognize the difference between driving decisions that are judgment calls and those that are unforgivable stupidity. For example, I have [slightly] more patience for drivers who make poor merging decisions or those who go [what I consider] too slow in the "fast" lane. These are judgment calls -- and who am I to judge? However, there are some things that are not negotiable. Examples of these types of things: stopping at green lights, stopping at YIELD signs, and not using turn signals. There are others.

I am not a perfect driver. I'm not even what most people would consider a good driver. I do things like drive too fast over speed bumps and run my car out of gas -- yes, that has actually happened. But I know the difference between green lights and red lights.

While I'm up here- I think that there should be regional versions of Drivers' Ed. For example, everyone I know who has completed Drivers' Education has been tested on parallel parking. Why? How many of you use parallel parking skills on a regular basis? Correctly?? That's what I thought. I, personally, know how to parallel park and if given the option - will choose not to - EVERY time. In the void left by parallel parking, the Drivers' Ed curriculum should focus on Merging Skills. Now this is something everyone uses daily! This is all-inclusive: entering/exiting the freeway, utilizing Yield signs correctly, etc. It is my personal opinion that knowing how to merge is much more universally useful than parallel parking. There can be Urban versions of Drivers' Ed that include parallel parking - but I think that's even unnecessary. Soon there will be parking lots and parking decks as far as the eye can see. Parallel parking will go the way of the typewriter and the cassette tape.

In other news: I am reading the most bizarrely captivating book -- Running With Scissors. It is a memoir of the wackiest, most non-standard childhood a person can imagine -- which I think fascinates me so much because it's as far from my life as humanly possible. I am aware that it was made into a film last year -- and I can't WAIT till I finish the book so I can watch it -- and I know that Annette Bening plays the nut-job mom so as I'm reading the book I hear her voice and it's perfect! I love her and she makes such a GOOD nut-job -- think American Beauty. I wish I had more time to read -- and I should be done in the next few days. I am abnormally anxious to know how he wraps up the story.

Comments

[ChiquitaQ]

I tend to use the horn more when I see someone toss a cigarette butt...
I also want to see that movie! Finish reading that book by the time you come visit-- we can have a movie night. :)