| Passing (4) | Friday, Nov 11, 2005 12:38 am |
Sometimes (actually all the time) when I'm driving, my sole purpose is to pass whoever is in front of me. I don't care if they're going 7 mph or 80. I need to get past them. This could be one of my major downfalls. Actually, I think it is. But I think there's a relatively valid reason for it: I don't trust people. I don't have faith in another person's ability to drive. And this has been proven to me time and time again. A person will suddenly put on their breaks as they're going 65 mph. Why? They're on their cell phone. Or a person will have their turn signal on for about 40 miles. Are they turning? No. Eventually? No. These people are bona fide idiots. Or just unobservant. Either way, they're not safe. And when I'm driving behind a person on one of those 2-lane roads in a 45 mph zone, and the person keeps putting on their brakes because the car a half mile ahead of them puts on their breaks, I'll blow past that person because they're driving like an idiot. I see this as getting myself out of danger. I can't trust this idiot in front of me. Hence, pass.
But the weird thing is that I do the same thing when I snowboard. And this is pretty dumb. I'm not the best at traveling down a steep, snow-covered hill with a piece of fiberglass strapped to my feet. But when I see someone in front of me, I'll speed up and pass them. It's for the same reason: I can't trust my well-being to the balance of the person in front of me. I don't know if they might fall and take me out, so I'd rather not take the chance. But the problem is that I tend to lose control when I reach a certain speed and whenever I get near another snowboarder or skier. It's a mental thing. So my objective ends up failing as I tumble painfully down the mountain.
Linked: Cursing, Ice skating, Snowboarding, Faraway parkers, Speeding to save time (comment)
I do the exact same thing (driving, I don't snowboard). I use some physics nerdiness to justify it, though. (Wouldn't I?) In physics, collision cross section is determined by the distance between two objects and the amount of time that they are in proximity to each other. Basically, the closer two things are, and the longer they are that way, the more likely they are to "interact." Since lanes are pretty much a set width on the road, my only option is to reduce the amount of time in which I could potentially "interact" with other drivers. So I stay in the left lane and drive really fast... So far I have yet to experience any unpleasant interactions, but I also have yet to convincingly educate any NJ police officers on the merits of applied physics.
That's Richard Santillo, everybody. S-A-N ... well you get the idea.
Rich, two things:
1. You haven't changed a bit.
2. Well played.
Ha ha ha ha ha, good one rich...I like the theory...
[Edited for content]
YES! I know what you mean- I have the same ****ing **it happen to me every day Im on the road, ****ing bastards slow down to 30 in a 45 or they will just stop in front of me. If I wasnt on parole and wasnt breaking my curfew, then id just hit em as hard as i could with my piece of **it car and sew them for everything they've got, but i usually just go right around them. Actually i got pulled over on paulinskill lake rd. for passing in a no pass zone, when i came around this corner right after that chick's horse farm toward the lake, there was this drunk mother****er stopped dead in my lane, and i was doin like 45, almost hit em, go to pass him and he speeds up so we are drag racing that strip, and a cop is to the right of us...Its not like im drivin my camaro anymore either...****ty **** ****...anyway, now i just try an alternate route cause i cant afford any more points....