My Almost Road Rage

[RSteve]

I was driving to my younger daughter's suburban house today. I'm in the left lane because I'll soon be making a left turn at a stoplight. There's a car right next to me in the right lane with a guy smoking a cigarette. He opens his window and flicks his cigarette butt that lands on the hood of my car. I don't know if it was intentional, but it sure pissed me off. I have no bumper stickers; am just an old guy driving a 4-year-old Subaru sedan.

 

[ftrplt]

The other driver was visually impaired...his head was firmly imbedded in his azz!!! FTRPLT

 

[Idlefellow]

I've never understood why cig smokers can't put the damned butt in the ash tray!

 

[Ranger107]

With the fire danger in AZ, if a cop sees you do that it's a $400 fine.

 

[Idlefellow]

It should be that or more anywhere regardless of the fire danger. Have some pride.

 

[Zeno Marx]

People still dump entire bags of fastfood waste in front of the house. Not on a busy street, sort of tucked away. I used to walk every afternoon...same route...picked up trash for something to do and to keep the neighborhood cleaner...and I could pick up a relatively full grocery bag full of trash every single day. Again, not a busy area, so that indicates to me that a good percentage of people feel it is fine to throw trash out of the car window. I don't understand.

I can remember being in my grandparents cars, them smoking all the time, and the ashtrays clean and never used. Every cigarette butt went out the window. For it to be happening in 2021? I don't understand. I could call them names, assume poor things about their character or upbringing, etc, but I genuinely do want to understand why they don't think twice about it. What's at the root of thinking that's "normal" behavior? Because they do have to think that is fine to do.

 

[Ranger107]

When I was a kid growing up in FL I remember seeing the "chain gangs" clearing brush and picking up trash on the state highways. Maybe time to bring that back? And, if you are caught littering along with the fine maybe you spend a week picking up trash as community service.

 

[Brunello]

When my son was a teenager a passenger in the car he was driving threw out a fast food drink cup and it bounced off the car in the next lane. That driver called in the license plate number and we soon got a call from the police and our son and his friend had some explaining to do. The other driver didn't press charges, but that "friend" got a shaming from us on how disappointed we were in his behavior, and we never saw nor heard from him again. Sometimes a little shame and guilt are more powerful than punishment!

 

[Ranger107]

Kinda funny and somewhat relevant war story. Back in the early 90s when I was managing C21s for the AF the AF offered to take our techs with them when they went to display the a/c at air shows. I and 3 techs went with 2 AF pilots to a show in Halifax Nova Scotia. At the end of the days festivities we headed back to the hotel with me driving as I had been reserved in my alcohol consumption. My techs not so much. On the way back on a major street one of my techs in the back seat opened his window and tossed out an empty beer can. It hit a car passing us in the left lane. As it passed I saw it was a police car. I made an immediate right turn at the next street. The cop car did not come after us but we crawled on every back street to the hotel. Told my guy if he ever did something that stupid again I would fire him, lol.