Confessions of a *cough*Middle Age*cough* Blogger

I have Road Rage.

Oh baby. And let me tell you. Living in the Mid Coast Maine? Lincoln County is the Oldest (age wise) County in this state. Joy. And no, I don't have ANYTHING against the elderly driving. I know several elderly people that are speed demons. You know. 45, 50 miles per hour. Wicked fast.

sigh.

Anyway. See. I was driving along Rt. 1, which for those that don't know is the main corridor in this area. The. Main. Corridor. As in really the only way to get from point A to point B in any realistic length of time. The speed limit on Rt. 1 is 55. Not 33. Not 40. FIFTY FIVE.

Sigh.

Also. There is a breakdown lane that is about as wide as the traveling lane. This is good for merging into if you are going to be making a right hand turn. OR if there is a car in the traveling lane stopped to make a left hand turn, you can keep traveling at speed, into the breakdown lane, and just go around them. It's called Maintaining the Flow of Traffic! You do NOT STOP in the traveling lane and then Turn Right! As well...you do not sit behind a car waiting to turn left. Waiting. Waiting. As I sit behind you. And then three cars sit behind me. And suddenly there is a WHOLE LINE of traffic that can't go anywhere because you didn't just go AROUND them in the first place.

Sigh.

And since WHEN did the whole "Slower Traffic Pull to the Right" when going up hills thing go out of vogue? There is a pretty long hill right as you come into town. It's two lanes going up so that slower mini-van traffic can pull over and let faster, better Subaru drivers (ie: Me) go by and get to their appointments on time. However. This only works if people play by the rules. Which they don't. What the hell is going on? I'm not laying on my horn! Maybe I should! I'm not flashing my lights! Maybe I should! I'm probably cursing at you quite vociferously and pirate like as I crawl ever slower up the hill. Because your silly little 1.2 liter automatic mini-van engine can't handle being hauled up that MASSIVE hill. Lately I've been tempting fate and passing them on the right. But it's only a matter of time before that all goes badly.

Sigh.

And can we all please...Please. PLEASE. Please. Just agree when going through the light down here at the end of  my road to just wait for me to go first. You know the one. The one that you don't know how to turn left at because you've never quite figured out that if there is another car, from the other direction turning left as well...you don't need to go around each other. Really? How. The. Hell. Does that even happen??? ??? Holy Mother of GOD!  It's simple. Really. It's a HUGE intersection people. You cross in Front of each other. Get it?! Yikes.

Sigh.

Anyway. I was driving along Rt. 1...looked down at my speedometer and realized that I was going 25. Looked in my rear view and saw a LINE of cars...at least nine...behind me. The car in front of me? A Buick from Florida with a veteran plate. Seriously. Not to sound 'age-ist'. But if you cannot maintain the speed limit, which right there was 55, I would argue that you should not be driving. I am all for elder rights, and them having their freedom and all of that. But obviously, if he's (and yes it was a he, cause I passed him) going that slow, he obviously doesn't feel comfortable or safe driving anymore.

Sigh.
And No. I don't have a solution to this. Feel free to school me. :)