Saturday, May 26, 2007

Four Way Stops ≠Rocket Science


That's it, I can't take it anymore. I have to vent.
Why can't people figure out 4-way stops?
Seriously, are they that hard? Here's what you do - if someone gets to a 4-way stop before you, you let them go. If you get there at the same time, whoever is on the right goes first. That's it.
Pretty simple, right? Apparently not, because it seems half the people I meet at these things heven't the least idea what they're supposed to do.
Should I go? No, I think he does. Well wait, he's not moving and I got here 10 seconds before him, so maybe that means I go. Oh, this person just pulled up on the other side. I better wait until he goes. Or how about I just pull forward ten feet into the middle of the intersection and stop? Yeah, that should facilitate an efficient transit for everyone.
If you say that last line in a Brian Regan voice, it's at least 5 times funnier.
As far as I can tell this is what goes on in these peoples' minds. Maybe we need to call a town meeting or something to address the issue. You know, we sound a big gong, the whole city gathers at town hall, the mayor does a 5-minute presentation (with role play) on proper 4-way stop etiquette, the old people get a chance to gripe about how fast college students drive, we all have donuts and go home happy. Problem solved.
Of course, we're still figuring out how to use our blinkers in this town, so expecting everyone to successfully pull off omething as cryptic and intricate as the 4-way stop procedure may be asking a little too much.
Oh yeah, and while we're on the subject, here's another thing that makes me mad -- people driving while on their cell-phones. Hey, thanks for risking the lives of everyone around you just so you can talk to your roommate about what happened on Lost or how your boyfriend thinks you talk too much five minutes sooner than if you just waited until you got home. We all appreciate it.
Ok, I'm done. Thanks for letting me vent. Now that I look back at the post, I guess my purpose in writing today was to show how most people are stupid, but I'm not.
I hope that's what you take away from this: most people are stupid, but not me.
Hey, have a good one.