So I was driving back home from a bagel run on a two-lane road this morning when I got stuck behind three slow-moving cars. The front car had his right turn signal on and was moving slowly because an older gentleman was in the crosswalk right where he wanted to go. Since I was in a hurry to snack on my cheddar cheese and Jalepeno bagel (toasted with cream cheese), I grumbled at the “slow idiots” ahead of me – dropping a few f-bombs and questioning the marriage status of their mothers.
Suddenly, a fourth car appears from behind me, zipping past all of us in the center turning lane, oblivious to the double yellow lines bracketing it. He was, at most, twenty feet ahead when the first and second cars made their turns, clearing the way for the car ahead of me to drive on down the road.
Now to my question… Do I praise or condemn this move?
Crossing the double yellow lines makes it an illegal action. If any of us made a move to the left, we would have been hit. And this was the very definition of cutting in front of a line and who doesn’t hate line cutters.
BUT… a case could conceivably be made that since there was no oncoming traffic and, at 8:45 on a Sunday Morning, the odds of any other cars appearing was low, the dangerousness of the move was minimal. Likewise, just about every person ever stuck behind a slow car has had the idea of throwing caution to the wind and just cutting in front of them.
Of course, there could have been other factors. The driver might have had an emergency. But then again, he might have just been that self-involved that he didn’t care that others were waiting patiently. Then there’s our notions of conformity to consider. Our culture praises rebels – they laud people who buck the system: Robin Hood, Billy The Kid, Bonnie & Clyde. But at the same time, we’re taught that if we just work hard and follow the rules, we can be a Super Bowl champion, win the World Series or achieve the American Dream of a house, a car and 2.5 children.
So even though all I intended to do was get some breakfast, I inadvertently stumbled upon a critique of my value system – What is more important, following convention or breaking it? Upholding the law or being a maverick?
Obviously, this isn’t a question easily answered. It’s one requiring reflection and introspection. But I did decide one thing… since the car ahead of me insisted on driving 20 MPH in a 35 MPH zone and the car that blew past both of us was a white Mercedes, they were BOTH douchbags.
The Writin' Project 