Of One Whose Driving Skills Are Poor

When I was driving home the other day, I was behind a man in a nice SUV. The man in the nice SUV came to a stop sign before I did, as people who are driving in front of me are wont to do. Even though the road we were traveling ended there, and the man in the nice SUV must clearly turn either to the right hand or to the left, his turn signal was left untouched.

I always find it slightly annoying when people don't use their turn signals - especially when they haven't forgotten about it but have decided that it's unnecessary. The point of using your blinker is to show the drivers around you what you intend, and if you don't see any cars around you that's no excuse: it's the cars that you don't see that need to know what you're going to the most. Besides, it's just a flick of the wrist! If you think it's too tiresome, just pretend it's a Bop-it game, and whenever you're going to turn or change lanes, your car suddenly says, "Bop-it down!" or "Bop-it up!" That makes it fun. And besides, not using your blinker reveals a vacant mind. I rest my case, which has been logically and unanswerably presented.

Where were we? Ah yes, the man in the nice SUV had not used his turn signal. Well, I wasn't really worried about this gross lack of courtesy. I have seen too many drivers behaving similarly to think this instance remarkable. Anyway, the man in the nice SUV had driven to the far left side of the lane, leaving more than a car's width of pavement to his right. Clearly, he intended to turn left. I was going right, so I pulled alongside him and began to check for traffic... when the man in the nice SUV turned right.

"Silly driver," I said, rather loudly. But of course he pretended not to hear.