I'm Just Not That Into This:

I am a commuter and I live in the middle of no-man's-land, so I spend a great time on the road EVERYDAY. On the positive side, I try to make my commutes pleasant. I have an incredible coffee thermos that keeps my coffee piping hot for 12 hours, I listen to all sorts of pod casts, I meditate (as best I can manage going 70+ miles an hour down the road). On the negative side, I start to lose faith in humanity a little more everyday.

I am a very, very calm person. I don't yell, angrily curse, or get all that upset at people around me, except when I am contained within my small compact car. Here's a true confession: I experience some degree of road rage everyday. I think the reason for this rage on the road is that I am very courteous person and I guess I expect a modicum of courtesy from others. I feel defeated when I set the bar so high as to expect a friendly 'thank you' wave from other drivers when you let them out, and I am incredulous when I don't receive it. This expectation of gratitude is obviously my problem, and I plan to work on it, but there are other things that I just don't get. Here's a list:

1. People who CAMP OUT in the left lane. Seriously folks, don't you feel even the teensiest bit of pressure to move it on outta the way when you have, oh, I don't know, 10+ cars all on each other's bumpers directly behind YOUR car? Do you think we are following you because we are your devoted fans? Do you think we really want to read the small lettering of your bumper stickers? Or admire your reflection in your rear view mirror? To all those left laners out there: the answer to those questions in NO. We want you to get the heck out of the way.

2. PBS (Perpetual Blinker Syndrome). First off, I applaud all of those folks that actually use their blinkers. For this, you deserve some credit. What I don't understand is the inability to recognize that, though you turned 3 1/2 miles ago, YOUR BLINKER IS STILL ON. I know it's difficult to discern if it's still on, with all of that CLICKING and BLINKING, but try your very bestest to de-blink your blinker.

3. People who purposely remove their mufflers (this is for you Anderson County TN TAG 521-TRD) so their engines not only rumble the road, but the ears of all in the general vicinity. Yesterday, when I was driving home the last (and most road rage inducing) one-lane highway, I followed Mr. Anti-Muffler. Boy, I tell you, after a long day's work, there's nothing like hearing "BLUMMB, Blummb, Blum, blum.....BLUMMB, Blumm, Blum, blum" the entire 13 miles.

I'm sure that for every annoying, rude, anti-rule following driver out there, there are at least 10 good ones. Too bad the bad ones ruin it for all of the polite, well-mannered folks. Isn't that always the case?

For now, I'm going to try simmer down, breathe deeply, and look for all of the good qualities in people so I can restore my faith in the human race. Maybe I'll even chant something to calm me down.....something like "I will not ram that car in front of me out of sheer frustration. I will not ram that car in front of me out of sheer frustration. I will not ram that car..." You get my drift.