OK, on my way back from the airport just now, not exactly on top of my game, I was in the wrong lane on 93 North, so I tried to edge into traffic. I DID NOT cut anyone off, just turned on my signal (a new behavior for some drivers in Boston), and pulled into the right most lane. A Prius driving taxi driver honked at me. I came to a dead stop and let him go ahead of me. The blue air in my car after that was pretty incredible. I won't mention all of the explicates, but I must admit some of them were pretty clever. "So you will get where you are going 2 nano seconds faster than me, happy now?" "Use your horn again, that person just cut you off." "How about a little courtesy, and do you even know what that is?" "You are ONE car ahead of me, how does that feel, more like a Stud?" "I made a dangerous assumption that Prius driver's are more courteous than the average bear." "Is your passenger from California and do they have any idea why you just honked at me?"
What I realized is that after that experience, if I had let myself, I would have tried to cut some people off. I would have driven more aggressively. I honestly think that we all drive aggressively for self preservation and for competition.
This all comes after a week in California where the following happened to me, I was in the right lane at a light and 1/2 a block later my lane was blocked by cones and flashing lights. When the light turned green, the person in the left lane waved me on and DID NOT MOVE until I pulled away from the light and got into that lane. This would never happen in Boston. I did get honked at once in California but I truely deserved that one.
Welcome me back to the Masshole drivers of Boston!
In India, one might suspect that all drivers are blind (a scary thought) because the car horn is used in place of a turn signal. Maybe (us) Mass-holes are headed in that direction?
ReplyDeleteWhen we moved from Cambridge to Lexington, I was stunned how polite and even generous suburban drivers often are...but only on surface roads. As soon as these nice people get on highways, the fangs come out.
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