Busy Nothings
I’ve always heard tales of what horrible drivers women are, and what wreckless drivers teenagers are. I will admit that women may statistically have more fender benders than men, but once anyone reaches a certain age, they should have to pass a test to be allowed on the streets, especially the men, who seem to drive like a bat out of hell.
In the past few weeks, i’ve had more than my normal share of altercations with elderly male drivers. The Monday after Independence Day an elderly couple in an enormous Mitsubishi Montero behemoth pulled into the turning lane on College (71B) and decided they wanted in my lane, even though I was right next to them, in rush hour traffic, and couldn’t really move out of the way. In that instant I honked my horn profusely and narrowly escaped a major accident by mere inches because the Mercedes SUV to my right and just behind me, gave me room to swerve.
Today I was backing out of the city parking lot behind the station in order to go home for lunch. It’s a pretty narrow parking lot, my car’s not very small, and I had to large SUV’s to both of my sides, so I had to back up, turn the wheel, pull forward, and back up a second time to clear the parking spots. Well in between the my turning forward and final back up, an older man in a Scion box pulled out of his spot behind me and to the right all too fast, backing into my back bumper. I was at a full stop at this point, and it happened so quickly that I didn’t think to honk my horn. Out jumps the man wearing shorts that were all too short for a man his age, yelling at me.
Calmly, I said, “You backed into me sir. I was at a full stop and saw you back into me.”
He yelled, “Why didn’t you think to honk your horn!?”
That somewhat ruffled my feathers, but I remained calm. I replied, “I assumed you would look where you were backing up and see my car, as it’s not very small.”
He made some other comments, and I mentioned checking for damage. THEN he asked if I was injured, and I wasn’t. Neither vehicle was damaged. Those Toyota Camry bumpers that bounce really work. There wasn’t even a scratch. I sort of wished there had been some damage because the man had acted the way he had, and I’m just tired of elderly men who shouldn’t be driving.
I seriously believe that once a person is old enough to collect Social Security, they should have to pass a mandatory, yearly driving test. I imagine a vast amount of people would agree. Please comment if you do. If you have any stories to share, please do. For a laugh to calm your nerves after your rant, watch South Park’s, “Grey Dawn.”
