WTF is with Traffic??

I don't understand it. It's really like that Goofy cartoon "Motor Mania." People who are normally pleasant and respectable to their neighbor on the sidewalk (Mr. Walker) get behind the wheel of their car and turn into crazed animals (Mr. Wheeler).

To get onto the freeway from my apartment building you have to make a left. But not just any left. THEE most dangerous, life-threatening left turn in the world. The type where all the cars are big colorful blurs past you going whir, whir, whir, whir and your neck hurts looking right, looking left, looking right, looking left for an opening.

And then you see your spot! That little Frogger-like hole that you think your car can fit into, going 40 mph. You inch forward in anticipation and then HOOOOOONNNNKKKKKK!!!! "What the hell were you thinking, trying to get in here? This is my goddam space on the road!"

I have to do this every day. Right left right left right left - is it clear on that side? How about that side? Whir, whir, whir, whir... No one let's you in. Finally you just have to clench your teeth, take a deep breath, and put the pedal to the floor and hope that the Traffic Saint cuts you a break.

This morning I got honked at for just inching forward. Just inching. I wasn't even in the intersection - still on my street, nowhere near this man's way. But I got honked at. And then I got The Look that sometimes follows the honk. You know the one - the one that says, "There's no way in hell I'm letting you in, pal."

Reseachers have found the reason why mild-mannered joes become these motor maniacs once they get behind the wheel. Apparently once we get into vehicle we no longer see ourselves as human, but rather the machine that surrounds us. And we no longer view others as people in cars, but the cars themselves. We forget that these are people who have families, lives, and their own places to go.

I just wish people would be a little bit more forgiving when mistakes are made. Try letting three people in front of you a day and keep smiling. It's not easy, but give it a shot.

And lay off that horn for petesake!