Running Red Lights
I ran a red light at a large intersection yesterday. It wasn't in the "oh crap it's yellow; do I slam on brakes or speed up to get through it?" sense, nor was it the "I'm late, I gotta run it, sorry folks... hope there isn't a cop or camera nearby," situation.
No, it was the "I'm a dumbass not paying attention" kinda thing. The light was red, and I was eagerly awaiting it to turn green. Sounds normal, right? I watch the lights for the perpendicular traffic change to yellow, knowing that soon it will be my turn to go. The light turns red, and I see someone ignore the light and plow on through, making a right turn in the same direction I will soon be going.
Well, that pisses me off. One of my big pet peeves is people who ignore traffic laws like running lights, failing to stop at stop signs, excessive speeding and the like. I see the light turn green in the corner of my eye and hit the gas hoping to catch up with this jerk who decided he was too good for stopping at red lights and obeying the rule of the road.
About halfway through the intersection, I see oncoming traffic turning in my direction. "Hmm, this is odd..." I think briefly before immediately realizing the green light I had seen in the corner of my eye wasn't for me, but was for left turns!
No one honks, no one is close to hitting me because I was so fast off the mark. I think they were all just as confused as I was. To make it seem like I'm not such an insensitive jerk, I give a feeble apologetic wave as I pass them and hope they understand. When I make it to the other side of the intersection, I hit the brakes hoping everyone behind me saying "What an idiot" to themselves knows that I realized my mistake.
Then I decide I don't want to be around any of those people behind me and take off, hoping to lose them before the next intersection so they can't look down at me from their SUVs with their cold, judgmental eyes.
But I can't lose them- the next light is red too. So I just lay low in my seat and hope no one really noticed.
"Idiot!" *smacks forehead*
--Cbake
No, it was the "I'm a dumbass not paying attention" kinda thing. The light was red, and I was eagerly awaiting it to turn green. Sounds normal, right? I watch the lights for the perpendicular traffic change to yellow, knowing that soon it will be my turn to go. The light turns red, and I see someone ignore the light and plow on through, making a right turn in the same direction I will soon be going.
Well, that pisses me off. One of my big pet peeves is people who ignore traffic laws like running lights, failing to stop at stop signs, excessive speeding and the like. I see the light turn green in the corner of my eye and hit the gas hoping to catch up with this jerk who decided he was too good for stopping at red lights and obeying the rule of the road.
About halfway through the intersection, I see oncoming traffic turning in my direction. "Hmm, this is odd..." I think briefly before immediately realizing the green light I had seen in the corner of my eye wasn't for me, but was for left turns!
No one honks, no one is close to hitting me because I was so fast off the mark. I think they were all just as confused as I was. To make it seem like I'm not such an insensitive jerk, I give a feeble apologetic wave as I pass them and hope they understand. When I make it to the other side of the intersection, I hit the brakes hoping everyone behind me saying "What an idiot" to themselves knows that I realized my mistake.
Then I decide I don't want to be around any of those people behind me and take off, hoping to lose them before the next intersection so they can't look down at me from their SUVs with their cold, judgmental eyes.
But I can't lose them- the next light is red too. So I just lay low in my seat and hope no one really noticed.
"Idiot!" *smacks forehead*
--Cbake
posted by Cbake at 4:57 PM
1 Comments:
Humbling. Good lesson: do not judge until you walk in someone else's shoes ....
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