driving ..... me crazy!

if i wasn't a nice Christian girl, this is what you would see if you ever cut me off on the road.


what the crap is up with people not knowing how to drive? i swear. i am so frickin' sick of people cutting me off, not waving to say "thanks" after i let them out, rubber-necking for no good reason, slamming on their brakes for nothing, and talking on their cell phones. ok, i might be guilty of the last example, but for the most part, i try my best to be a very conscientious driver.

two days ago, i was seriously cut off (meaning, if i hadn't SLAMMED on my brakes, i would have been in an accident) by not one, not two, but three drivers. this happened in a span of about twenty minutes. if i hadn't been paying attention, i could have really been hurt.

why do people feel the need to just "come on over" when there is just enough space for one car between mine and the car in front of me?

why do people have to slow down to look at a truck with a flat tire that has stopped way off to the side of the expressway?

why don't people in the greater orlando area wave "thanks" when someone is kind enough to let them out... sometimes, even holding up a few cars behind them just to be nice?

these are questions that i ponder as i drive on my crazy daily commute to and from various assignments. but the stupidity that i normally witness doesn't necessarily have to happen when their cars are in motion. oh no! today, i saw one of the scariest and most dangerous acts of stupidity ever, while i was at the 7-eleven on Kirkman road.

i had stopped on my way to work to fill up my car with some much needed gas, and had to go inside to pay. (ok, so i could have paid outside, but i needed some caffeine and bought a mt. dew) after making it through the ridiculously long line, i finally was only one person away from making my purchases. unfortunately, the gentleman who was next in line didn't speak any English (big frickin' surprise) and could not pronounce the number fourteen correctly. this began a rather long dialogue between him and the poor clerk behind the counter.

Clerk: "Which number sir?"

Man: "Fortee"

Clerk: "Excuse me, did you say forty?"

Man: "Fortee"

Clerk: "I'm sorry sir, I can't understand you. Do you mean fourteen as in 1-4 or forty as in 4-0?"

Man: "Fortee"


holy schnoli! can someone please interpret? i was beginning to think that murphy's law was in full force as i watched person after person checking out in the line next to me. finally, i could wait no longer and jumped into the "express" line.

after i had made my purchases i went outside to fill up my tank. as i stood there, watching the gasoline meter click away the numbers, i noticed my non-english speaking friend had finally paid and was now standing in the next row over. he and his counterpart were filling up multiple portable containers with gasoline. not so bad, right? THEY WERE STILL IN THE TRUNK OF THEIR CAR!!! i was absolutely horrified. of course, they were not using a funnel and the gasoline was spilling everywhere! now, you don't need to know English to be able to read a picture diagram. you can't tell me that in all of their years of driving that they have never seen a sticker like this on the fuel pump!




could it BE any more clear?

as if it couldn't get any worse, the guy realized that they were having a hard time reaching the fuel nozzel to the container, so he started up his car to move it closer! seeing that i had just finished with my own fill up, i wanted to get out of there before they blew us all up, but never being able to keep my mouth shut, i had to try to let them know that what they were doing was dangerous.

Christy: "Excuse me, that is very dangerous. You shouldn't be doing that in the trunk of the car."

Man: "Excuseme?"

Christy: "What you are doing is dan-ger-ous!" (now adding gestures)

Man: "Excuseme?"

Christy: (Thinking to herself... what is the Spanish word for "caution"? Despacio? Cuidado? Why didn't I pay attention in the four years of Espanol that I took in school???)

anyway, i didn't even try to say anything else. i just got the heck out of there as fast as my little Volvo could carry me.

well, i know that they didn't blow themselves up. atleast, not at THAT 7-eleven, since it was still standing when i was driving home from work. i just hope that, in the future, they don't accidentally kill an innocent person because of their stupidity.

if you are reading this, and can see yourself as one of those people i was describing in the beginning of this post, (rubber-necker, excessive braker, cell phone talker... well maybe not the last one) please do us all a favor and change your ways. we all want to arrive at our destinations as safely and swiftly as possible. not to mention, with our blood pressure at an acceptable rate too!