#132 Driving Without Confidence

I have a 46-mile commute to work (one-way) each weekday. I don't love that I have a long commute, but I do love where I live and that makes up for the amount of time I spend in my car every day. Public transportation is not an option for me in my area, so I am forced to drive my vehicle. I have accepted this fact a long time ago.

Also, I live in an area of the United States which experiences all four seasons, and the winter season can last anywhere between November and March depending on the weather patterns. This can make commuting to-and-from work a bit of a nightmare for me and the many other drivers on the road.

At the beginning of my commute I have to navigate 17 miles to the nearest interstate, and 11 of those miles is a 2-lane road (one lane in either direction). There are back / country roads that could be taken as an alternative route, but these 11 miles of 2-lane roadway is the main thoroughfare for practically everyone in my surrounding neighborhoods. The speed limit is 50 miles per hour so it goes by quickly, especially since everyone routinely drives 5-15 mph over the speed limit.

This particular 2-lane roadway is not very straight. That is, the road twists and curves gradually around a body of water. This enables a great line of sight between the front of the "line" of cars, and the back of the "line" when there is traffic.

Overnight we experienced a light dusting of snow, but nothing that was threatening to the roadways. This morning had very heavy traffic conditions on this 2-lane road, and it wasn't until I got around a curve did I realize what the holdup was: an uneasy driver, at the front of the line, literally holding up over 80 vehicles.

First of all, safety is critical. I don't fault this woman (and it was a woman) for driving slowly. What I DO fault her for is not getting out of the fucking way. At the beginning of this 11-mile stretch, traffic was already moving slowly. So slowly, in fact, that traffic was moving along at a whopping 31 miles per hour with a lot of stop-and-go action. At the moment the road first curved and I could see what was going on, I knew that my commute was going to suck hard.

People began passing when it was safe to do so. As I mentioned, this particular road is a main thoroughfare both in and out of town, so it's not like there wasn't any traffic going the other way. People were so desperate to pass her that they often used a center turn lane when it became available (for a short stretch of road), and some even used the shoulder.

Here's my main complaint: she could see both in front of and behind her vehicle for quite a ways (up to a mile in some spots!). She could definitely see that traffic was piling up behind her. She could definitely see that people were attempting to pass her illegally. It is my opinion that if she noticed these things, she should have pulled off the road, let traffic pass her by, then proceed to continue slowly with her commute. She shouldn't make everyone else suffer because of her lack of confidence on the road.

Once I was able to pass her, my timing was already pushed back into rush hour even worse than it was to start with. My commute this morning which normally takes about an hour, took nearly 2 hours because of the initial delay and now the additional traffic. Thanks a lot, bitch. As if my blood pressure wasn't high enough already.

#131 Punctuality (Time Management)

I have previously written about my mandatory one-hour lunch at work, and I have also written about punctuality in general. This particular rant encompasses both.

Every day at 11:30 I have to take my hour-long lunch. Every. Day. At 11:30. This never changes.

Every day at 11:30 I have agreed to leave work with someone to go run errands and grab lunch on the way. Every. Day. At 11:30. This never changes.

Yet EVERY DAY I am left searching the office for this person, or fetching this person from their desk at 11:30. Why? Well, that is a very good question. I would like to know the answer myself!

In a perfect world, I would look up at my rear-view desk mirror and notice that this person is walking up behind me with their coat on and car keys in hand. Ultimately, this is the goal. Perhaps I haven't nagged them enough yet. Perhaps I haven't trained them hard enough. Perhaps I haven't given them enough shit about how much it aggravates me that I have to go and search for them or remind them of the time. Perhaps they're just a self-centered dick who doesn't care about my feelings or being on time for any.fucking.thing in the world. Perhaps they just don't care.

I have even scheduled a reminder in their work calendar so that it pops up to remind them that in 15 minutes they should be leaving. The reminder is also set to pop up at 11:25 to give them a 5-minute heads-up. And, once again, it will remind them at 11:30, practically shouting, "Get off your ass, put your coat on, and walk over to Melanie's desk because it's TIME TO GO."

I doubt I will ever understand why people seem to lack the ability to manage their time properly, especially when their actions (or lack of actions) affect others. It seems like these people will never understand how truly frustrating they are to people like me.

#127 Inconsideration (Time)

Time is incredibly valuable; you can never get it back. What we do with our personal time is sacred these days, so when someone is inconsiderate of my time I get really frustrated.

I recently borrowed a vehicle from someone to use for a specific purpose. They knew I was coming to pick it up at least a few hours in advance. They knew approximately what time I would be arriving and they knew that I only had a short amount of time to pick it up and leave since I was on my lunch hour from work. They also knew that I had to rely on someone else to take me there, therefore using up someone else’s valuable time.

When I arrived, they were completely ill-prepared. They didn't greet me at the door when I arrived. They took their time coming outside. They didn't have the keys ready. They didn't have essential items cleared out of it. They couldn't locate the key fob. They proceeded to engage in a lengthy conversation about some random crap that had nothing to do with the vehicle.

Something that could have literally taken less than 5 minutes took nearly 20 minutes.

Then another incident happened with the same person. This person needed something that I had in my possession, and called me at 10:15 pm to ask me to bring it with me to work the next day. This person was going out of town and needed what I had. Since I was nearly in bed by this point, I had to get dressed to go outside to the garage to fetch what they needed, then put it in my vehicle to take to work the next day.

Once I got to work the next day, they called and said they were coming to pick it up from my place of employment, but that they needed to shower first but they would be there in 20 minutes. With this person, 20 minutes = at least 35. I was leaving work in 30 minutes (again, they waited until the very last possible moment) and I was not about to be late because I have commitments that need to be kept. There was NO WAY this person was going to make it by the time I left. Instead, this person had to go out of their way to get what they needed rather than making a compromise with me, which ended up making them irritated and put off because of the situation.

IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY, PEOPLE.

Simple preparation and adequate communication solves lots of headaches down the road. Just take a couple minutes to prepare for the situation ahead of you, discuss the details with those parties affected, and you will make those around you happy.

If you don't have time to prepare ahead of time, at least let the other person(s) know. They may be able to adjust their schedule to better accommodate the situation, and won't be so disappointed and frustrated when they arrive and have to deal with your lack of preparation and wasting their precious time.

#004 Punctuality

I try my best to be on time every time. I do a pretty good job estimating how long it will take me to get somewhere and I plan accordingly. On most occasions I'm early, if not right on time. Rarely am I late.

I find it extremely irritating when people say they're going to be somewhere at some time and then they are nowhere to be found. Take office meetings, for example. If YOU call an office meeting, whether or not you're hosting the meeting, YOU should be there first. If the meeting is scheduled to start at 10am, then get there a couple minutes early! Don't waste other people's time for your lack of punctuality.

And, if you're NOT there on time, at least have the courtesy to give the person(s) you're meeting a call to let them know that you are, in fact, on your way... you just haven't made it yet. And if you don't have the courtesy to call, at least keep your phone on so everyone else can call YOU.