Competition in Motoring
 

I've mentioned this before. It's Friday. Most of you are starting your weekend but Legion is still here to joust with. What the heck.

There are several roadways in my daily travels where you need to be in the right, exit only, lane in order to get where you are going. Lots of other folks going there too. Traffic in other lanes is smooth, but the exit only lane gets plugged. Why? I'll get to that in a moment.

I'm in the slow, exit-only lane. In a substantially healthy, fairly light 911. Cars are whizzing past me in the next lane. Guess what their agenda is? Yup. They need to take the exit I am waiting for. Sadly, they know there will be cars near the front of the line who are following at more than one car length. That's all these asshats need, and they slip into that spot. Because of this, I'm stopped on the freeway. There is plenty of flow along the exit I need to take. The only reason I'm stopped is because of the extra cars that are inserting themselves into the line up front. But for those aggressive asshats, traffic along all lanes, including the exit only lane, would flow smoothly.

This is analagous to socialism versus capitalism. I'm the socialist. I'm wishing everyone could cooperate toward a smooth traffic flow. If they would, there would be no bottleneck. I'm not willing to get aggressive (I do my aggressive driving on tracks, not public roads) in this instance but if I did, I'd have an easy time robbing the space up front that I'm not really entitled to, at the expense of other drivers. I drive tiny car with ferocious brakes.

We applaud the winners. Someone takes a few liberties and as a consequence, they enjoy a commute that is shorter than the rest of us. We might stand up and applaud, as this is the kind of aggression we value. Nevermind that it's not necessary and just causes traffic for everyone to get balled up.

BTW, if you drive in the Seattle area and you're one of these drivers, my mirrors work well. The car is a sort of dark, metallic bronze. I can see you coming. I know your agenda. And while I'm not going to brake HARD or accelerate HARD in order to cut you off, I'm going to deliberately deny you the space you're hoping for. And I will laugh my ass off if this causes you to continue to the next exit. Unfortunately, it won't do that. You'll plug other freeway lanes if you have to, and someone will eventually let you in. And so.......there is a clear opportunity for you to take space and time away from other people. Which is why you do it. Because you can. And because we value greed, here in America. Not cooperation.

This all falls apart on one very important point, Supe. You commute in King County. All of those asshats driving like that are your beloved liberal friends; the erstwhile socialists. Environmentalists in their Expeditions and Suburbans. Yammering on their cell phones, without a care in the world for anyone or anything outside of their 6,000 pound metalic cocoons.

When they have the luxury of anonyminity afforded by their gas-guzzling commuter weapons, when their own best interests are at heart, we see their true colors. We all know the true test of character lies in how we behave "when no one is looking", or how we treat those who can do nothing for us. When given the opportunity to cooporate under these circumstances, with people they will never meet, we see their selfish spoiled brat "me first" attitude rise to the surface.

You grew up in rural Idaho. I bet you never saw this attitude there. There are factors other than liberalism vs. conservatism at work here (such as overcrowding in the big city, lack of anonymity in the smaller town, etc.). The fact remains, however, that to experience such rudeness, such self-centered attitudes displayed in their driving, one must venture to the home of American Liberalism - the big city. We are faced with an interesting "chicken or the egg" question when we really look at this. Are the big cities anonymous and rude because liberals live there, or do liberals live there because the anonymity allows them to be themselves?

Behavior like this drives me nuts. Some people genuinely are a bit 'lost' and don't notice the bottleneck at their desired exit until they are past the point of getting in line. It happens--probably to all of us at some point--and it's nice when traffic allows you to sheepishly sneak in line. But there are others that deliberately merge in at the very last minute. It's obvious. And it's the utter rudeness of these people that I can't stand. Their need to get to wherever they're going is greater than the needs of all the others they deliberately bypassed. Someone on another bulletin board commented that common decency is no longer common. How true.

"Are the big cities anonymous and rude because liberals live there, or do liberals live there because the anonymity allows them to be themselves?"

Maybe they live there to avoid having to deal with people who postulate such simpleminded questions?

Nah, that answer is just as simpleminded as the question :D.

During my commute I encounter a few areas where two-lanes turn into one. Day after day impatient people speed ahead of traffic and cut off the poor person at the last second to get back in line. It infuriates me to no end.

As for your analogy, I think the automotive world plays by different rules. I'm typically a socialist when it comes to driving in rush hour, since we're all in the same damn boat and things will go smoother and faster if everyone just did things correctly. But when it comes to any other time, like being stuck behind a Blue Hair, I'm a cut throat Capitalist with a penchant for safety.

In the end, jerks who speed ahead and cut in line, just build up that negative karma. It will bite em in the arse someday.

I drive back to Chicago from school in southern Ohio frequently. The first 200 miles of my trip are usually fairly leisurely. I stick to the left lane going 85-90 and I can pretty much stay there the whole time, except for the occasional slow moving car or truck. However, When I get off of I65 in northern Indiana and hit I80/94 everything changes rapidly. All the sudden every driver is as described above. My drive immediately turns into a battle that requires hyper-vigilance. The last 100 miles of my trip home are by far the most exciting, but can also make me want to turn my car into a 3000lb bomb.

Merging from 2 lanes to one and trying not to be an asshat I was entering the one lane about 30 feet before it completly ended. Traffic was crawling at the time. As I was entering the lane I actually had a car pass me on the shoulder to get around to take advantage of the extra 30 feet of clear road and in his mind arrive home 30 seconds faster than me. What the guy passing me on the shoulder didnt see was the cop car around the corner. Karma got him that day as I was passing him I heard the cop asking him why he was in so much of a rush.

Perfect example! I get a charge out of that stuff.

Is Carlsbad a big city?;)

"Ever notice how everyone that drives faster than you is a maniac, and everyone that drives slower is an idiot?"

- George Carlin

I wish I could have been there, Dave L. I would probably have honked my horn and waved.

Seric, it sounds like we use similar driving philosophies.

Noah, you have socialistic tendencies. Better have that checked out before it gets serious.

Jeff, I oughta just punch you right in the nose. Perhaps we could make an appointment to get together. Maybe the 74th Street Ale House, just down from JW's shop. Your point is well taken. Human nature it what it is. It seems to cross political boundaries (except of course for the fact that conservatives are always patient and charitable). My point, which would not have been missed by you, is that while selfishness is sometimes thought to be beneficial, sometimes it's just selfishness and people suffer because of it.

I took John some Inversion IPA by Deschutes Brewery. I wonder if he's tried it yet. I think it may be the best beer in the world. But I'll keep looking just in case.

Yes I agree with you Superman (did I just say that?) this is the me me me attitude so prevalent in today's society. Every other jerk thinking they are somehow more entitled to be rude, get ahead, and not give a crap about anyone else.

I wish I was retired and I could follow one of these guys that have done this to me (although I rarely get got to far from the bumper in front of me in these situations anymore so as not to let them in) then follow them to work and wait for them to go to the bank, coffee shop, etc., then cut in front of them in line, and when they ask what you think you are doing, just reply, same as you on "xyz exit" this morning in front of me (smile)

Exactly. People do things in automobiles they would NEVER do in person. Jeff has been through these discussions. That's why he included some of the phrases he did, about 6000-lb metallic cocoons and anonymity.

I will not create a dangerous situation. But as I say, I WILL deny these people if I can. No biggie though. Somebody else will let them in. After they have flipped me off. I'll be looking right at them.

I like self-interest. Capitalism is good. But sometimes not. That is.....this notion that greed is a good force......is misguided.

Trafficwise, unfortunately, it's pretty much San Diego extended - lotsa maniacs and idiots; probably a higher percentage of right wingers than left wingers since the balance of this area is heavily conservative.

From your perspective would the assumption be that all the maniacs and idiots here are left wingers? What would George Carlin say?

Funny, I just had this discussion with my socialist wife the other day. We applaud people who work hard to get ahead, but we hate those selfish people who apply the same principles in traffic. Sometimes I have a moment of self doubt and I wonder if maybe I've got it all wrong, and maybe the people cutting in line really are right, and I'm a selfish jerk for not submissively allowing them to cut me off. Then I realize that's nuts, and I drive to keep those jerks from cutting in front of me.

Of course, I've taken some heat for that. One guy followed me for 6 blocks, stopping at lights to get out and holler at me because I wouldn't let him in. The assclown couldn't even be bothered to signal after cutting past a half-mile line. My favorite is a 25mph on-ramp that's 2 lanes at the start, 1 lane at the end: every morning, there's some idiot who thinks they can sprint up the outside of the line and get 3 cars farther ahead. One huge lady in her SUV attempted said maneuver, maneuvering wildly up the ramp to attempt to gain a couple of car-lengths before the next merge. I closed the gap between myself and the next car and denied her the space she needed to get in, forcing her to either drive up on the curb or fall in line behind me. She drove up on the curb. Rolled down her passenger-side window, and started screaming at me (latte in one hand, cell phone in the other, while navigating a 25mph on-ramp at 35 in an SUV, illegally, up the curb) about how I was endangering her child with my reckless driving.

Whoah.

Nah, I rolled down my window yelling "ticket him, ticket him" to the cop.

Down here in conservative Bloomington, we don't have jerks like that--except on Parent's Weekend at the University (when the asshats from Chicago are down here).

I start to notice the asshats around Joliet when I head north on I-55. By the time I hit Plainfield, I'm surrounded by them. Yes, they are concentrated in the big cities. We believe in personal responsibility down here--a conservative value. Seems the liberals like to take as much as they can and blame the other guy for not giving enough.

:DIf yer gonna tee 'em up like that, I'm gonna hit 'em into the cheap seats. Couldn't resist.

Anyway, I'll pm you about getting together. We should do that soon. Near John's would be fine; I should stop by and say "hi" to him as well.