A Christmas Wish

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=749719" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003399" TEXT="#080000" background="096c8c00erkjxk.jpg"> <div> <B>A Christmas Wish</b></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Highway Story"><U>A Highway Story</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Study in Contrast"><U>A Study in Contrast</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pleasure and Pain"><U>Pleasure and Pain</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Economics of Tobacco Use"><U>The Economics of Tobacco Use</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B> <a href="http://www.qksrv.net/click-576833-1931884" target="_blank" > <img src="http://www.qksrv.net/image-576833-1931884" width="120" height="60" alt="Shop sportchalet.com!" border="0"></a>  </b></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#0066CC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#99CCFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Recon Doc's Command Post</b></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFF99" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CC0000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>  |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Recon Docs Command Post"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> back to  <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="My Writing"><U><B>My Writing</b></U></A></div> <div> A Christmas Wish</div> <bR> <bR> <div> My biggest pet peeve has to be poor drivers. Maybe that is not quite accurate. Other drivers would be more accurate. I am slow to anger, and I do not suffer from "road rage", but the antics of other drivers sometimes drive me to the brink of insanity. </div> <div> Just this very morning I was following a silver Dodge Durango on base. Well before each intersection the driver slowed considerably, to a pace most snails would consider sluggish. On reaching the intersection he activated his turn signal and started his painfully slow turn. It was as though his vehicle was suffering from some type of rheumatism. As he began to turn my spirits soared at the prospect of freedom, only to be dashed as he crazily swerved back into traffic, narrowly missing my front bumper by, it seemed, no more than mere millimeters. Possible explanations for his erratic behavior popped into my mind as the driver repeated his bizarre ritual four more times. "Perhaps he is retarded, or maybe he suffers from some type of convulsive disorder brought on by blinking turn signals that causes him to jerk to the left," I thought. </div> <div> As I drive to work each morning I wonder at the thought processes that compel other drivers to behave in such a peculiar manner. The road on which I commute to work is a typical two-lane city street, widening in places for parking. However, it has four lanes where I first turn onto it and the merge concept seems to be far too challenging for the average Chicago commuter to grasp. Instead of merging before their lane actually ends, these drivers speed down their lane until the biter end, and then create a fierce traffic jam as they try to pry their way into the travel lane. Curses, gestures, and more than a few dented bumpers abound. And this lunacy is repeated each time that the road widens for parking. </div> <div> Another traffic frustration is two drivers who drive at exactly the same speed, side by side. Now this would not normally bother me, but it seems that the only offenders are those compelled to drive much slower than the speed limit, especially where the speed limit is already ridiculously low. The most heinous road crime is somewhat similar. What possesses drivers to travel in the innermost lane at speeds just slightly faster than molasses flows? It seems the biggest offenders are the elderly and women with a hundred kids in the car. These drivers will not budge either. Cars will be stacked up behind them, God will speak from the heavens, it does not matter. They just will not budge. They have their cruise controls glued at an absurd speed and they will not change for anything or anyone. </div> <div> So God, and Santa too, if you are listening, all I want for Christmas, if nothing else, is to live in a world with sane divers, if just for one day. </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>