But there was an incident that generated this column, and it happened a few weeks ago while I was driving in the suburbs. See, I was making a left on a nice residential street. There was another car approaching me from the street I was about to make a left onto. Here's the thing: I had no stop sign. He did have a stop sign. Did you catch that part? There was a dude approaching a stop sign on the street I was turning onto.
OK, so I made my left onto his street, and he freaked out. He leaned on his horn repeatedly and gave me the frowning of a lifetime. So what happened? In his mind, I should have come to a stop (with no stop sign) and let him blow through his stop sign so he could go first.
That's what this incident (and this column) comes down to: Me first! Now I get it. We all want to go first, but what is wrong with someone when they think they're literally above the law? That fellow travelers should heed the right of way on the off chance that crazy old men want to blow through stop signs and go first?
Don't worry. I took care of it. I screamed out the window, "STOP SIGN! STOP SIGN! YOU HAVE A FUCKING STOP SIGN!" I know. I'm very gifted with words. He was so impressed with my eloquence that he asked me where he could buy my novel before driving on.
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