Thursday, February 3, 2011

OVERDRIVE

Some days I shouldn’t go out.


Driving the kids to school just now I watched the behavior of my fellow man, and I wondered who these beings were and from whence they came.


I felt disconnected, as if I was looking in from somewhere else.


Do you ever feel that way?


The kiss-n-ride (this is local speak for a designated area to stop, kiss your passenger, and let them out of/or into the car, without parking or shutting off your vehicle. Sometimes you may see vehicles not come to a full stop) at both kids’ schools always has served (for me, anyway) as an interesting social anthropological anecdote to the area in which we live.


Some people go through the line as instructed. It takes anywhere from 2-7 minutes, depending. This seems to be too much of a commitment to many.


Some folks pull to the side (almost) of the line and let their kids off before entering the loop, then proceed to execute a lefty/Uey while traffic in both directions halts. Some folks stop their vehicle before the drop-off line ends, thus blocking any further advancement from those of us behind them, park, get out of their vehicles, let their children out and then proceed. We all wait behind them patiently. Some folks avoid this process all together and park around the block and walk their children the rest of the way.


I have to go through two kiss-n-rides when I take the kids to school. I usually opt for the bus, not only to reduce my human footprint, but also to limit my exposure to bad behavior by adults, in addition to risking my own questionable responses to it all.


Some folks use the size of their vehicles to drive down the middle of the neighborhood street, forcing any oncoming traffic to pull to the side.


Do they realize this?


I hope not.


Driving around the DC area is often high adventure. It recently was rated THE WORST city in America to navigate by car.


In my experience, Virginia drivers are a tad nicer than those from Maryland. Those with District plates have the most dents in their cars. No one uses directionals.


I was going to write more, but then I found this:


http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/wdc/49455908.html.


You should really check it out if you’re considering a car trip to our nation’s capital (I still don't understand when to use capitol or capital. Living here has only increased my confusion).

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