I was driving on Interstate-84 the other day, as I’ve been doing almost every day for most of the past three decades, and I experienced something that’s been happening more and more frequently. I was cruising along on my way to work. The highway was kind of crowded with cars and trucks, but everyone was moving at a good clip. (“A good clip” is defined as 10 to 20 MPH above the posted speed limit. If someone decides to drive AT the speed limit, that’s called a major slowdown.)
As I was driving along, I approached some construction work. Yes, I know you’re shocked. “Construction work? On I-84? That never happens!”
Actually, if you consider the entire length of I-84 in our state, from the New York border in Danbury to the Massachusetts border in the town of Union, there has never been a time when there was NOT construction work taking place. This is true even going all the way back to when the highway was first built in the early 1600s by the Mashantucket Pequot tribe. (I bet they regret not installing tolls right from the beginning.)
Anyway, I was driving along, and when I got to the construction zone, big orange signs indicated the speed limit was reduced to 50 MPH. I glanced down at my speedometer and saw that I was doing 65 MPH, as was every other car and truck around me. (By the way, I’m hoping this printed confession in the newspaper will not prompt the State Police to mail me a speeding ticket. If they do, then they need to give one to each of the other 2,000 drivers who also were ignoring the big orange signs that morning.)
Right after glancing down at my speedometer, I noticed in my rearview mirror that a car had pulled up and now was about two feet away from me, and I could see the driver was gnashing his teeth in frustration. So, here’s the situation: I’m driving through a construction zone, doing 15 MPH faster than the speed limit, and a guy on my tail is absolutely livid that I’m driving too SLOW!
Anyway, I was driving along, and when I got to the construction zone, big orange signs indicated the speed limit was reduced to 50 MPH. I glanced down at my speedometer and saw that I was doing 65 MPH, as was every other car and truck around me. (By the way, I’m hoping this printed confession in the newspaper will not prompt the State Police to mail me a speeding ticket. If they do, then they need to give one to each of the other 2,000 drivers who also were ignoring the big orange signs that morning.)
Right after glancing down at my speedometer, I noticed in my rearview mirror that a car had pulled up and now was about two feet away from me, and I could see the driver was gnashing his teeth in frustration. So, here’s the situation: I’m driving through a construction zone, doing 15 MPH faster than the speed limit, and a guy on my tail is absolutely livid that I’m driving too SLOW!
This exact scenario has happened to me multiple times in recent weeks. I don’t remember it happening very often before the Covid pandemic. It seems the pandemic has caused a sizable percentage of our population, as mental health professionals would phrase it, to go bonkers.
I mean, drivers have always been harried and hurried and distracted on our interstate highways, going all the way back to when Elon Musk and Henry Ford invented the automobile. But nowadays it seems drivers are way more angry and aggressive. Also, I’ve noticed that most of the guys who pull up on my tail, angry that I’m going only 15 MHP over the speed limit, are driving BMWs, Audis, and Lexuses (or is the plural “Lexi”?).
When something like this happens to me, I usually do one of two things: I either speed up so the guy can go faster and be less angry, or I shift to a different lane so he can blow by me (and flash the “We’re number one!” hand gesture at me in the process).
But since I’m now officially a geezer, I think I’ll do something different when this situation occurs. From now on, when another driver pulls up on my tail, angry that I’m going only 65 in a 50 zone, I’m going to slow down to a little less than the speed limit. I’m sure that’ll teach him to relax.
I mean, drivers have always been harried and hurried and distracted on our interstate highways, going all the way back to when Elon Musk and Henry Ford invented the automobile. But nowadays it seems drivers are way more angry and aggressive. Also, I’ve noticed that most of the guys who pull up on my tail, angry that I’m going only 15 MHP over the speed limit, are driving BMWs, Audis, and Lexuses (or is the plural “Lexi”?).
When something like this happens to me, I usually do one of two things: I either speed up so the guy can go faster and be less angry, or I shift to a different lane so he can blow by me (and flash the “We’re number one!” hand gesture at me in the process).
But since I’m now officially a geezer, I think I’ll do something different when this situation occurs. From now on, when another driver pulls up on my tail, angry that I’m going only 65 in a 50 zone, I’m going to slow down to a little less than the speed limit. I’m sure that’ll teach him to relax.
However, before I do that, I probably should have my car windows replaced with bullet-proof glass. Like I said, there’s a lot of “bonkers” going around these days.
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