Unwritten Rule of the Road

Now I try to live by the adage "don't sweat the petty stuff and don't pet the sweaty stuff" because really in the grand scheme of things (war, poverty, hunger) some things just aren't worth getting worked up over. That is, unless you're caught in morning traffic.

Last week, I was on my way to work and as I was turning onto Devonshire from Union St., I noticed the traffic was backed up all the way to the barber shop. Usual morning traffic on this route usually means that the loop to get on to the bridge is backed up. As I turned the radio to the 8:30 news, I realized why it was backed up...an accident on the bridge. I considered taking the Princess Margaret but apparently there was an accident on that bridge too. What should I do?! I decided to stay the course.

As I, and many other frustrated tardy commuters crept along in traffic, I got around the turn and could see the police tending to the accident and subsequently tow trucks coming to clean up the scene. By this time it's about 9am (I'm already 15 minutes late by this point) and I'm just about to merge to get into the lane for the bridge. Now at this merge point (basically beneath the overpass), I generally leave a bit of space for the people who are coming from the southside (Main St.) exit room to get through.

Before I'm about the merge, I notice something in my side mirror. Some dipstick sped up along side me and cuts in front of me in line...Now I know that he/she hasn't been waiting in the 30-45 minutes of traffic that I have been waiting in. I look in the rearview mirror and the guy behind me is throwing his hands up in the air and cursing (from what I can guess - since I had basically the same reaction). A split second later, I see someone coming in the outside lane and cut in front of the guy behind me...RAGE!!!! And if that wasn't enough...ANOTHER car pulls up, a Black Volvo SUV, and tries to merge in front of me. We're almost side by side, I look at him, shake my head and he mouths something that I couldn't give two sweet shits about. I considered flipping him the bird (but that's not very ladylike) or rolling down my window and yelling at him (but it was too cold out and again, not very ladylike). It's about 9:15 at this point...the traffic eventually picks up and I make it to work at about 9:30. I consulted one of our traffic officers to see if there were any laws against being an inconsiderate butt-in-liner, no such luck. Bummer...

So the moral of the story: While it is tempting to bypass the traffic and cut ahead in line...don't do it! It's just plain rude and ignorant!

PS The sign above was found at a site dedicated to Road Rage. Some of them are pretty funny, check it out...