I don’t want to steal any terms from my fellow bloggers like Edward Hotspur or Brain Rants (both of whom have excellent blogs in case you’ve never been there), so instead I’m going to call this Blowing off Steam – Things That Drive Me Up the Wall!

Sunday Drivers – these are the people you meet on the road, typically they’ve just come from church since they’re nicely dressed, frequently a little on the older side.  What do they do – confess all their sins & then try to go out & get killed in their cars as quickly as possible so they can go straight to Heaven before they have a chance to commit any other sins?  They dawdle on the road, they make lane changes without signalling or shoulder checking, they change their mind a half dozen times in the course of a block, they speed up when you try to pass them & slow right down when you’re behind them, they wander into your lane because they’re busy talking to the other people in their vehicle.  These are the same people who fill up all the nice breakfast restaurants to have their coffee & pie after church, when you want to go out for breakfast.

Old Men in Hats – Very similar to Sunday Drivers except  you find them on the roads every day of the week & they tend to drive about 15 kms. under the speed limit, unless of course you want to pass them.  The type of hat doesn’t seem to play a role, it can be a Fedora or a baseball cap.  But put a hat on an old man & you’ve found an accident waiting to happen.

Pedestrians – where do I start with pedestrians?  Since when does a stick figure of a person on a sign indicate to you that you can cross anywhere you feel like it?  Do you not realize my vehicle weighs TONS?  If my vehicle makes contact with your body – you’re the one who is going to lose, regardless of whether you think you’re in the right or not?  And worse still are the parents who rush out into traffic with their toddlers in tow, expecting you to: a) notice them, b) be able to stop in time to not hit them.  When did it become passe to teach your children to look both ways before crossing the street.  And don’t you think it would be a good idea in our snowy/icy climate if you made sure the car you are about to walk in front of has the ability to stop before you step in front of it?  A black stick figure on a white background does not mean you can cross here without taking your own safety & the safety of others into consideration!

Pedestrians (cont’d) – I realize you are extremely important & therefore you need to talk to others constantly, but do you think you could pay attention to the little things around you at the same time – like maybe traffic?  Instead of ambling across a freeway, bringing all rush hour traffic to a complete halt, because you are so busy yacking to a friend, maybe you could ask for your friend to wait a moment, cross the road safely & quickly?  Perhaps you could do the same in parking lots when you cross behind cars who are clearly exiting a parking stall?

Pedestrians (cont’d) – I know it’s all the rage to wear dark clothing, but do you not realize when we only have 6 – 8 hours of sunlight in the winter that you need to be visible in the dark?  Shame on clothing manufacturers too for not thinking about the safety of pedestrians & designing all the hip clothes in such dark colors.  At the very least clothing manufacturers could put reflective tape on cuffs to make pedestrians visible, who knows it might become a fashion phenomenon.  As far as pedestrians go – put on a white scarf or some other light colored accessory to make yourself more visible, please!

Can you tell I’ve recently changed assignments & now have to drive to work instead of take public transportation?  When I’m on the bus I don’t even notice other drivers or pedestrians.