Have you ever noticed when someone says, "I have observed something," they're not really making observations as much as they're complaining and they want to make it seem not quite as whiny as it is?
I've observed something.
Observed a lot. And commented on. Loudly. Sometimes to myself and sometimes to others. Often with acoustic accompaniment in the form of an extended car horn solo. On a regular basis.
It seems, at least in my observations (which my family is getting a little tired of, by the way) that we as a group of drivers here in Northwest Arkansas have forgotten what stop lights mean.
I'm going to blame ... a lot of things. In no particular order. And, frankly, any or all of them could be to blame, and some of them could be so far-fetched and fanciful as to fall under the heading of conspiracy theory. Or just someone yelling at the windshield of his car. But it seems to me that as a group, we have all forgotten the rules to "Red Light, Green Light" and have decided it's all "Green Light."
At least it seems that way when so many of you believe if you go fast enough, or are turning and hug the bumper of the car in front of you, that you can get away with it by rushing through before the folks who actually have the green light have a chance to react.
Now I realize, just as the plural of "anecdote" isn't "data," the plural of "observation" isn't "epidemic" (and, yes, maybe it's too soon to call something an epidemic). But over the past few weeks, I have "observed" a tendency on the part of some of my fellow drivers to sort of forget that sharing often means waiting your turn.
And as a person who studiously and completely follows all traffic laws, including speed limits and light statuses (and who apparently can prevaricate in print with absolutely no remorse), I have found my reaction to these incidents fall somewhere between "annoyed" and "terrified," depending on a lot of factors. Not the least of which being just how much traffic light abusers abused the light and how fast I happen to be going through the intersection. At a safe and legal speed, I assure you. With a straight face.
OK, you might be saying: Is this really worth valuable space in a major state newspaper? And at what point am I going to move from "observing" people running red lights to glaring at kids for potentially getting on my grass? The answers are: (1) Yes, if I can somehow twist it from a rant to a reflection on society as a whole and (2) I really don't need to, ever since we added the barbed wire, thank you.
So, here goes. We've collectively lost our minds. Or, at least lost that part of our minds that governs either rudimentary politeness or the basic sense of self-preservation that says, "Yeah, you're really going to be late if you get T-boned in this intersection."
My theory (OK, at least the one that doesn't involve space aliens) is that we all basically either took a year or so off from driving or from driving with other people around. And as a result, we've forgotten the basic rules of the road. Like, don't run lights based on the theory oncoming traffic will stop or has more to lose than you do.
Add to that the nature of the times we live in and the super-amped status of our current environment and it's no wonder a lot of us are going all "me first" at intersections. And that the rest of us are operating in an state where it's really not "road rage" if it's just the way we drive.
And the answer to this? How should I know? I mean the beauty of "observing" if that you just have to come with problems, not solutions. But if I were to make a suggestion, to others and myself, it might be that you're not going to get a year and a half back in a few months, so slow down a little. Either that or just wait for Darwin's theories of natural selection to apply to autos driven by folks who want to blow through on the yellow... nah, it was really red and you know it. It only takes one look at your new insurance rates to make you much more cautious.
And now I can get back to "observing" how the clouds are messing up my sunny day.