Hey there,
School started last week. Full in person attendance with masks required by everyone at all times. Not a peep of dissent and that's in a society that has not had a locally transmitted case reported in months. Big news here last week was that HHS head Alex Azar came to Taiwan and he is the highest ranking diplomat to step foot here since the '70's. Pissed China off, which was obviously the reason they did it, but the stated reason he came was to liaise with his Taiwanese counterparts on virus management strategies. I looked...while there were plenty of articles about the message this sent to China, could find a single mention of the crisis management aspect of the trip nor what he took away from it. How about telling the boss that masks work dude?
Anyhoo, this is Babydolls senior year, which is pretty damn big for her and for us parents. The night before the first day she had her friend over and I was asking how it felt to be the Big Women on Campus...the Top Dogs as it were, and they replied that they are now the apex predators. Loved that. I took a photo with her but was dripping with sweat from my morning chores and look like a woman...seriously, like a sweaty lesbian with small but pronounced tits. Will stage a photo when I look better another time. The school took some candid artsy shots of the kids and posted them on their website...here is one of her.
OK...the real reason we're here today is to talk traffic. It's been a while since I bitched about it, but got a traffic ticket in the mail the other day, which prompted some thoughts.
Famously, I got 10ish speeding tickets the first couple months here as I was not warned about their speed cams. Think I've only gotten a couple since, but the latest was a new one.
With their dashcam, someone caught me changing lanes without using my blinker and submitted the tape to the authorities who issued the $40 fine. I had heard that this was a thing and thought semi facetiously that it'd be a good side job for me as the reporting party gets a few bucks for doing so, but snitches gets stitches, right? In reality, I am quite OK with this as this place could use some accountability on the roads and anecdotally have noticed people using their indicators a bit more around town the last few months and figure that this has been a focus of enforcement. Sucks I got popped for something that I feel I adhere to in an above average way and also is one of my pet peeves when people don't do it in situations where a nice indicator would be good mojo and prevent accidents.
The last few days I've have been cataloging the different types of offenders that are common here. I have given them names to help keep track and present them for your consideration.
The Late Blinker - These types have always been here but they've increased since this new blinker focus. The hallmark of the Late Blinker is to be driving and to then move into the lane next to them slowly, and then put their blinker on when they are 2/3-3/4 of the way into the new lane. It is not a secret why they don't want to signal early as if they were to do so, the people behind them would speed up to cut them off. Not unique to TW of course, but built into the DDNA (Driving Deoxyribonucleic Acid).
The Monday Morning QB - A feature of the lane construction here that I have not noticed elsewhere is turn lanes markings. Common is a three lane road that comes to a light. Past the light the three lanes continue but the left lane has a turn arrow meaning that it is left turn only. As there is a lane on the other side, you can go straight but the intention is left only. In some cases though there is a dual straight/turn arrow, so that would mean it is both a thru and left turn lane. In this scenario, you come up to a red light and there is a single car in that dual arrow left turn lane without the blinker on. As soon as the light turns green, that is when this monster turns on his left indicator. I get that the left blinker guy above is afraid of someone speeding up to cut him off, but MMQB is in the pole position and cannot understand the motivation.
The Wayward Sperm - Did you know that in every male ejaculation that there are between 39 and 928 million individual sperm cells? Since lane changes are problematic concepts for the Taiwanese motorists, they have found a safe space to change lanes where there are no lines...in the intersections. As a student of traffic, this is one of the most dangerous things to do and is illegal. These folks are schooled from the earliest of ages to color within the lines. Follow the instructions or you get your hands whacked by the teachers. Whenever they get to a place that has no rules, in this case line-less intersections, they don't have rules to govern their actions and are free to indulge in their worst selves. One of the few instances in their lives where they can truly be free. Everytime I come to an intersection, I feel like I'm gonna get sprayed with the money shot.
The Butt Sniffer - Very cultural and you see it everywhere...not just on the road. The Butt Sniffer is a meter from your back bumper at all speeds. I don't get the impression they are riding your ass to push you into getting out of the way, it is just they are very comfortable in that spot. This happens in any line at the Family Mart/7-11 when there are two people in the store and I'm paying and can feel the heat of the other person's body right behind me.
The Small Barky Dog - Obviously related to The Butt Sniffer. There was a Loony Toons cartoon that had a big gruff bulldog and his little buddy yapper dog that would always be jumping around him and talking shit. If anyone knows where all those Loony Tunes are housed for viewing, please let me know. In this instance, the Small Barky Dog is on your ass, then sees an inch of daylight in the adjacent lane, and will move over and ride the ass of the car in that lane. They'll use their horn and lights to encourage you to get out of the way so they can race ahead to the next red light or car in front and repeat the process. Like a nervous Chihuahua, there is no off switch and suspect these people are twitching while they sleep. On this list, these are my personal favorite cause you can see them coming and often times can do something about it. You can speed up to let them think you are the fast lane, then slow down to get them to move over and ride the guy next to you for a bit, then speed up so they'll move over behind you, and repeat as long as possible. I don't think they even notice cause like a Chihuahua, their skulls are small and contain a brain to match. Betty absolutely hates when I do this.
The Undecided Voter- You'll recognize a bunch of these wherever you live or drive, but this is the one that most Americans know when they get pissed at the DWAs (Driving While Asian), but they are misinterpreting the action. The Undecided will be sitting smack dab on the line dividing two lanes, neither in the right or left but effectively blocking both. My Grandma used to drive like this in her waning years, but that was due to a deterioration of eyesight and depth perception, but that is a small fraction of what is going on here. Americans think they are simply bad drivers and while that is true, they are bad because they are driving in both lanes so they can later choose which lane is faster. Some would argue that is clever driving, but truly clever drivers, like yours truly, can process the way the wind is gonna blow like a meteorologist in Florida and get to the right spot early.
The Enablers (aka The Face Savers) - The people that will allow all the others to proceed without even the slightest toot of a horn. Look, during this plague season, I have had to rethink my opinion on a lot of the things that they do that seemed weird but are totally life saving precautions, and I will agree that letting some things go to not create conflict is an admirable trait. The cultural term is saving face, but when that devolves into letting people piss on community norms cause they know they can do so with impunity, this 'Murican draws the line.
Good recap of the drivers... you should submitted to be published in local magazine
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