I've never claimed to be perfect. Or at least, I don't claim to be perfect very often. I'm very open about the fact that I have all kinds of flaws. And hypocrisy is one of those flaws.
I realized the depth of this flaw while driving to and from work today. On my way this morning, I took a slightly longer way than usual, because I knew that doing so would prevent me from having to wait forever for someone to let me merge into traffic. I've made that mistake several times, and have been late to work as a consequence.
So this morning, as I'm passing the spot where I usually try to merge with traffic, I can see several cars waiting to get into my lane. And rather than slowing down and allowing them into traffic, I continued driving, infinitely pleased with my own cleverness and the fact that I wasn't among them.
I realized this was terrible of me, because only a few days before I had been among those unfortunate drivers, cursing the moronic drivers who refused to let me merge.
Tomorrow morning when I go to work, I swear I will give at least one car a chance to join my lane. If I remember, which has a 50/50 chance, since work starts super early in the morning and sometimes it feels like I drive all the way there without opening my eyes.
Another example of my spectacular hypocrisy also can be found in my driving. Today while driving home, I was road raging behind a slow-moving truck on Ring Road. I was definitely not on my best behaviour when I zoomed past him. But earlier, around lunch time, I'd been impatiently tailgated by an agitated driver who had no desire to travel at the speed limit. The entire time, I smirked and mentally congratulated myself on being such a law-abiding, upstanding citizen.
It's strange how all of these situations feel completely different from the opposite side of things. I like to think I'm not a horrible person, nor am I a horrible driver (unless you ask SGI), but I sure get annoyed when things don't go exactly as I like them when I'm driving. Does that make me an aggressive driver? An aggressive person? Or maybe passive-aggressive?
Am I the only one?
Tonaya Marr has entirely too much free time on her hands. She'd spend less time worrying about such trivial problems if travelling in Regina didn't prevent her from singing loudly along with the radio. It's super difficult to sing with enthusiasm when there's a driver on either side of you mocking your vigor and tonelessness. If you have problems like Tonaya, e-mail her at [email protected], or tweet her @TonayaMarr. Maybe you guys can start a self-help program together.
