Small Observations: Driving (the 7th of July, 2013)

In which I discuss driving (again), mainly concerning the first impressions I get from people.

I haven’t been writing as much as I wanted, since I do have a blog and everything. And I know the rule is that I can write when I please, but I have a slight obligation to myself (not to the readers; don’t you worry, I’m not fooling myself) to continue to write. The point of a blog is to write something, so I thought I would try and write something useful.

 

I haven’t had much luck on finding one particular subject I’d like to base a passage on, but I have thought of some random everyday observations from the past few days.

 

Let’s start with today (with today being the 6th of July), since it’s the most recent and will probably lead somewhere:

 

Today, I had to drive my car for a grand total of 120 miles. That’s just about three or four hours in the car by myself. I do a lot of really good thinking in the car; at least that’s what I tell myself. In fact, I would go as far to say I make some of the best everyday observations while I’m in the car. However, a majority of those observations have to do with other drivers and driving and cars and that kind of avoids the essence I’m trying to give life to in this passage, with that being RANDOM everyday observations.

 

I realize my best observations are slightly selective, but I still like thinking about other drivers. Of course, I have already written a bit on driving, but I completely forgot (I think) to make the point I thought about today: You can tell a lot about the character of a person by the way he/she drives.

 

(Before I get into this idea, I may not share all of my thoughts from the past couple of days due to the fact I’d like to resume some sort of schedule of writing these passages. I may or may not be leaving in less than a week to a place that probably won’t have a reliable internet connection, and coupled with the guilt of not writing a lot leads to me trying to get some writing out so I can enjoy ten days without thinking, I wish I had written more before I left. I think this is a fair thing to think.

 

Also, while I’m on this subject, I would like to go back through my long held beliefs and polish some of those up and put them up. I wrote some deep stuff on some of them. Granted, some of them are too flimsy or personal, and some of them would have to be taken with a little more than a grain of salt. But I think I could get a couple of ideas from those.

 

I’d also like to update everyone on how those three challenges went, so that might go up before this one does. In any event, you’ll be hearing about that as well. Perhaps you already have heard about my challenges.

 

Also, you may or may not be thinking I had forgotten all about that parenthesis at the beginning of this long-winded preface before getting into the slightly deep content. Well, I didn’t. So I’ll get on with it now.)

 

I was thinking about the whole driving thing while I was driving (go figure) today. If I remember my driving post correctly, and I believe I do although I am too lazy to look it up and find out for sure, then I didn’t really mention the way I judge the driver of a car. Now, this might be a little mean of me, but honestly, who doesn’t judge someone based on how and what he/she drives? Be truly honest with yourself.

 

I’m not one to get jealous of the make and model of another person’s car, but that doesn’t mean I cannot admire the grace and elegance of a well maintained or well-bred car. (So that was a really odd thing to say about cars. I didn’t know what else to say about a car that is a nicer make and model, so that’s what I’m going with. In fact, we could argue about the creation of vehicles, if they really are “bred” or if they are engineered. I think it would go into the idea about whether or not breeding is only a term for objects that are living and breathing. But that would open an entirely different can of worms and I don’t really want to go there at the moment so I will leave it at this: Deal with my awkward usage of the term “well-bred.”) I mean, I kind of imagine my future self being well-off enough to afford a Lexus or a Cadillac or some very expensive automobile that makes quite the first impression.

 

Because whenever I see a Lexus or a Cadillac driving on the highway or parked in a parking lot, I tend to think that driver has money. I don’t think that this jumping to conclusions necessarily, because for the most part you either have to have the money or the credit to afford such an expensive vehicle. There are exceptions to every rule, of course, but I’m not going to stray off of the subject matter to discuss every possible scenario that driver could be in.

 

The truth is I tend to make small judgments based on what kind of car the other driver has. I don’t make big assumptions, but based on the bumper stickers, the amount of stuffed animals in the dashboard, or the make and model of a vehicle, you can assume a lot about that driver.

 

Bumper stickers proclaiming freedom, coupled with a truck with big tires and an American flag, makes me think that driver really loves America. Stuffed animals on the dashboard make me think that driver is possibly female. And a Lexus makes me think that driver has some money. Is that such a bad thing of me to think? If I’m wrong, it’s not the end of the world. And if I’m right, it doesn’t even matter, because I will probably never see the driver or the car ever again.

 

And, on this note, I make small judgments about the way people drive their vehicles.

 

My dad and I would joke about the drivers who weave in and out of traffic all day long, looking to save five minutes as if they could drive up to them and catch them with a butterfly net. We call those drivers “Zippy the Pinhead,” and although that might not be the nicest thing we can call them, I think quite a bit of truth rings in those three words. The “Zippy” part is obvious, and the “the” part is irrelevant. But I feel as if these people are pinheads, because by thinking they can just speed through traffic, they are endangering the lives of everyone around them, including themselves. It’s almost a selfish act, being a Zippy the Pinhead: What makes you important enough to instill mini panic attacks and frighten/anger the drivers around you? Are those five minutes you save worth the potential lives that could be loss due to your reckless behavior?

 

To make things perfectly transparent, I have been late to events, and I have been slightly more reckless than before, speeding up to avoid waiting at a stoplight and not coming to a full and complete stop at stop signs. But I also make it a big deal to leave incredibly early for events so this doesn’t become a reoccurring problem. I give myself actual time in the morning to get ready for work before I have to leave. And I always try to remain positive and keep my cool if I am late to some event.

 

But I would never cut in and out of traffic attempting to save time.

 

Perhaps this is because I am way too afraid to cutting someone off (I have no problem with merging and cutting someone off, but I just can’t voluntarily swerve into another lane in the direct vicinity of another car). Perhaps it’s because I have never done it before and therefore don’t know the euphoria it might bring me. Yet I will hopefully never attempt this reckless stunt that is Zippy the Pinhead, because not only would I feel like a hypocrite, but I would feel overwhelming amounts of guilt for being one of those people my father and I have laughed at for years.

 

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that Zippy the Pinhead doesn’t allow him/herself enough time to prepare for the event, whether that be work or school or a party or some other engagement. Zippy is in emergency mode, frantic panic mode, the “oh-my-gosh-please-don’t-let-me-be-late-oh-please-oh-please” mode. And, at the end of the day, Zippy is oblivious to the safety and well-being of the other drivers on the road.

 

Driving is a sacred bond between you and other drivers, in which you solemnly swear you will not kill others if the others don’t kill you. In a way, this is an unspoken bond, but we all kind of hope that the other drivers on the highway are awake/sober/alert enough to not crush you and destroy you. At least, every time I go on the road, I hope I’m surrounded by drivers who will not kill me on that day. In a way, Zippy breaks that promise by swerving in and out of traffic, almost requiring everyone else to avoid him/her rather than taking his/her own sweet time and just drive like a sane person.

 

I make other judgments based on how slow/fast someone drives on the highway or the amount of physical rage someone has for other drivers (the physical side of road rage, if you will), but those analyses delve deep into the art of crappy psychology and nobody needs to read about how professional I am at said art. I think, in a way, Zippy the Pinhead is enough of an example for anyone to understand when it comes to my first statement about my judgments. At the end of the day, Zippy was just an example, and not the statement itself.

 

You might be wondering why I make these judgments, what purpose that serves me. When it comes down to it, my judgments are first impressions, because these people are not standing in front of me and they cannot talk to me. The closest form of interaction we get while driving is the occasional “thank you” wave when someone allows us into a lane, or the equally important “you’re welcome” wave, or the physical side of road rage (for example, I used to blow kisses or salute the drivers that were very bad, until I realized that is slightly pretentious and far too sarcastic, so I stopped that. Now I throw my hands up from the steering wheel if I get too angry with someone, and this does not happen often, so if you see me driving and I throw my hands up from the steering wheel in your general direction, you must have done something very wrong in my eyes). I am not allowed the privilege of talking to them, or seeing them in person, or even knowing their names (unless it’s on their cars somewhere I can see). All I will ever know about these random strangers is the way they drive and the type of vehicle they drive in.

 

Plus, we cannot avoid first impressions. It is the first few observations in a classroom, the way a person looks at you or the way that person is dressed, the first words that come out of that person’s mouth that makes you internally and subconsciously decide whether or not you want to put in the effort of getting to know that person. Because we are denied that physical interaction while driving, all we are left with is the vehicular side of things, which is not a lot to go off of.

 

If you drive like a maniac, I will intentionally avoid you. If you cut off the driver who has been following the law and giving my car some space for the past ten miles, I might make an effort to make sure you cannot cut me off. I attempt to avoid the bad drivers, whether that be moving out of the way of their idiocy or making sure those guys do not get rewarded for it.

 

You might be slightly confused about what I mean. I’ve been driving for four years now, and I have noticed that some genius in the lane that’s about to end will speed up and try to cut off a chain of three or four cars in order to…I don’t even know what they want. Perhaps he/she is Zippy the Pinhead. Anyway, some of us drivers has noticed the atrocity of the driving that person has done. Perhaps he/she has run a red light or two. Perhaps they cut off an old lady just trying to get some groceries without dying. Perhaps they have followed one or more of us a little too closely for too many miles. In any event, we don’t want that person’s behavior of cutting people off and running red lights and breaking only a policeman knows how many laws to be rewarded when they cut off that chain of three or four cars. So we don’t let him in. And I do my part to make sure he learns the other drivers on the road know he has broken the sacred unspoken oath.

 

Zippy might never learn until he/she gets into a tragic car accident. That’s a really sad fact of life. In fact, I didn’t learn to be more aware of the speed limit until I was pulled over for going thirty miles per hours when the posted speed limit was twenty. (In reality, the speed limit was very slow and everyone goes thirty in that area, but at the end of the day, I was speeding and I did deserve it, even if I did have a panic attack and I started bawling. I deserved the punishment.) I find that the most memorable lessons come with experience. Of course, I would rather Zippy would learn by just accepting the fact he/she is going to be late. I would rather the acceptance come before the accident.

 

The very sad fact of life is that some people don’t learn by acceptance. They learn by experience.

 

Anyway, I think I have made all the points I possibly can on driving. Since this is my second attempt at posting about driving, I may or may not have fully covered this subject. I probably haven’t though. (Foreshadowing DUH-DUH-DUH)

 

Anyway, I made a list of other random observations I have had over the past summer because, well, if I don’t make the list then I’ll forget them all unless it’s three in the morning and I don’t want to turn on my computer. I also would like to finish writing about post-challenges (and post-jury duty) before I do post this, which currently at ten in the afternoon on this Saturday evening, July 6th, 2013, I have not even started. I’ll attempt to get some of it done tonight, since tomorrow is Sunday and I don’t do anything on Sundays.

 

Anyway, stay classy. (By the way, I started that mid-challenge in my long-held beliefs, so “stay classy” is now a thing. I apologize in advance.) 

Author's Note

Let me know.