I can’t remember what blog I even read it on (so no link) but someone had posted a lengthy and kind of boring piece on how we project the worst on people who piss us off in road traffic. That is, we assume someone who cuts us off or doesn’t take his turn at a four way stop to be the worst kind of person ever. They must be stupid, inconsiderate jerks that no one likes! Since our only interaction with this person has been a negative one that might have even threatened our life, they must be only slightly less heinous than say, Hitler.
After slogging though most of the post, I moved on dismissing it as probably a correct observation but not worth such a long blog post. I mean, who cares. But as I subsequently drove around, and being one who gets easily irritated at driving stupidness, I couldn’t stop thinking about the post and began to appreciate how true it is. I really do assume the worst about the “idiots” on the road. They deserve my scorn, dammit. They’re horrible people; just look at how they drive.
Thing is, on a couple of occasions in my life, that idiot driver turned out to be someone I knew and, well, I’m sure their driving indiscretion was just an innocent miscalculation and they really are just good people doing a silly thing. But not the rest them! They’re bad people, dangerous to society, and probably should be put to sleep!
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