i only kind of have road rage

I drive the same way to work every day, like I'm sure most everyone does. I try to leave at a certain point to beat traffic and to also get through one particular light because when it's red it feels like you're sitting there for ten minutes. That is a very long time to wait for a light. Beating the traffic though, the reason for that is because I tend to think a lot of Texans cannot drive.

In Southern California, pretty much everyone drives like they're not afraid to die. It's reckless and fast and ridiculous, but it's also possible to anticipate what people around you are going to do because everyone has the same style. In Northern California, drivers typically like more space between themselves and the car in front of them and things move a little more slowly (which honestly isn't saying much since my own experience is that a 65 mph speed limit on the freeway in Riverside means people are going about 80 mph). In Texas, all bets are off.

You can be driving on the freeway and a car in the fast lane will suddenly slow down to almost stopping to check their map and then suddenly veer in a horizontal motion to exit. The slow lane can be going at about 40 mph even if the speed limit is 70 mph. Driving on streets is different too. When it rains in California, everyone slows down because they're so confused about the sudden appearance of water. In San Antonio, everyone speeds up. Why? Don't know. Maybe everyone is trying to beat the possibility of flash floods home or something.

Turns are different. The lines on the road in San Antonio make for much sharper turns than I am used to from driving in California. But there's also this weird phenomenon that I just mentioned to K the other day about what happens when there are two turn lanes.

Say there are two turn lanes that lead to a road where there are three lanes. Everyone makes wide turns so they cross over the lanes, especially if you are turning right. THIS DRIVES ME CRAZY. When I want to end up in a certain lane, I choose my turn lane accordingly and stay in the lane. More often than not, I am almost hit as the car on my right is trying to turn and merge into me at the same time. What the hell? I think if you want to be in the outside turn lane then that's the lane you get in. So whatever, it's annoying, I try to be aware and accomdating because apparently that's how you do things in Texas. But it still grinds my gears.

But today? TODAY I GOT HONKED AT by someone trying to make a wide turn. UNACCEPTABLE.

Someday I am going to really get hit because I am not entirely awake and I am taking for granted that the lane I am in is the one I am driving in and the car next to me is only driving in the lane they are in and I just hope that the insurance companies don't ask me what I was doing turning while staying in the same line I started in because I don't know what I will do.

Maybe I need to leave a little bit earlier so there are even LESS cars on the road on the way to work.