On the Road

The Talking Back to Other Drivers and As Seen on Vacation Edition (with a surprise ending)

Three drivers on the road today have suggested tonight's theme.

#1: It's probably not only a Boston-area maneuver to speed up at a yellow light. This morning, though, I was far enough from one to slow down instead--and the car behind me sped up and blew straight through the red light--straight through, from the left-turn lane.

Dude, congratulations. Even around here, that was stupid and dangerous enough to stand out. Hope you made your train. If not, that was a lot of wasted testosterone for nothing.

#2: At the other end of the spectrum, there was the SUV on the quiet, curvy road with a 35-mph speed limit, who was doing 25-30 mph instead.

How very cautious of you, sir or madame. I will admit that I thought about parking, walking up to your car, and strangling you with my bare hands while you Drove. Very. Slowly. I would like to get home before dark, you know.

#3: On a little side street close to home, not wide enough for two-way traffic with cars parked on both sides, an oncoming car had to pull over to the side between two parked cars while I went by. With no cars parked on my side, I felt I had the right of way there. Apparently, he wanted something more, for I heard him say, "You're welcome," as I passed him.

Um, you wanted me to say thank you because you didn't pull forward and block both of us in place? Do you expect thanks for not being a bigger asshole often? If so, I pity you: you must go around in a constant state of disappointment.

So, while we're on the road, here are some fun things I saw on vacation.

From a WWI-flying-ace Snoopy on the back of a motorcycle trailer:

To some very fun plates:

And on the last day:

My friends said, "Oh, 'find joy'!" and I said that I must have been fully into vacation mode, because I read it as "Found joy".

**********
Finally, in an extremely tenuous "well, it could go on a road" connection, have you seen the Hungarian pool with its own backhoe?



The voices sound so matter-of-fact; I wish I knew what they were saying. Still, watching it was surprisingly mood-elevating.