Bad Drivers
James commented "If it rained every month here people would still drive like they didn't have good sense" to my last entry in which I remarked on some very bad drivers I recently encountered. Yes, James, like the poor, bad drivers are always with us. However I like to recognize exceptional performances when I see them, and that day was notable for the number and wackiness of some of the stunts pulled in my presence.
San Diego is a wonderful place to live, with varied geography, climate and social life. There are the beach areas, where the residents proudly proclaim, "There is no life east of the I-5". There is the city proper, downtown vs. the outlying urban communities. East County, where I reside, was always for the poorer folk until the Indians started building all of their casinos there. North County mixes the very rich, the very eccentric and others who don't really want to fit into any of the rest of the county; it used to be the empire of boat bums but I'm not sure about their status any more. There are boats there, as always, but do people live aboard them the way they used to?
The geography and climate are different where you and I live, even as close as we are to each other. Even the nature of the shopping malls is different. The mall nearest me is dominated by a Walmart and a Sam's Club with just a few smaller stores between them. The mall nearest you is spread out over a flood plain and contains several major department stores, some good restaurants and a variety of interesting shops.
I rarely visit your mall. The last time I was there was about three years ago, when several of us met to combine transportation into the Los Angeles area for a professional conference my wife needed to attend. I don't drive far from home very often any more. There are too many angry people out there and too many stupid people, often members of the first group. They are armed with bigger, more powerful and faster vehicles, frequently equipped with cellular phones and other distractions.
A few years ago, I used to be able to spot drunks and other hazards by their erratic driving and simply avoid them. There weren't that many of them. Now, though, so many are driving erratically -- eating, reading, shaving, applying makeup, beating kids sitting in the back seat, even deaf people having heated discussions using sign language -- that they cannot be avoided.
Except by not driving.
Comments (3)
We should consider giving out Bad driver awards for exceptional performance as you put it.
When I went back to the US for vacation after living in Europe for a few months I noticed big differences in terms of drivers. In the US, well I should say California, people drive very slowly, seemingly without a care in the world. I've always been a speedy driver, and in Europe you're basically forced to drive fast, otherwise you get honked, blinked at, insulted, ect.
If you think there are idiots on California roads, well...I invite you to visit Boston, but I'll do all the driving.
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