“Hang up and drive!”

Jim and I saw a bumper sticker a few weeks ago that said that “Hang up and drive!” It cracked us up! We thought, geez, could you show just a little more anger?

But lately, I’m starting to think maybe that bumper sticker would actually be a good idea for me. I’m thinking I might even have to put one on the FRONT of my car, as well as on the back. Although, clearly, the people I’d be addressing it to are already too distracted… I don’t want to be responsible for any more accidents than those folks are already causing! Sheesh!

Today, I was headed down a side street near my house. This street is near a small college, so the street is populated by little businesses. It’s considered a “quaint” neighborhood. It had snowed, and it was, in fact, still snowing pretty hard at the time. I saw someone starting to back out of a parking place on my right, just as I was approaching them. I didn’t want to honk at them, but I was paying close attention to them, as well as noticing that the light up ahead was red. I hoped to get past the reversing vehicle before getting to the light. Suddenly I saw a man (I won’t say “older” man, because that makes one thing “OLD” man, but this guy was in his fifties, I’d say… no college dude, anyway) walking across the middle of the street, rather than using the crosswalk a few feet further up. He was, of course, on his cell phone and oblivious of the traffic. I stepped on my brakes and the anti-lock mechanism kicked in. (It’s a nice feature, but it won’t let you ‘tap the break’, so you just have to hope for the best.) I also started honking a few short honks—beep! beep! beep!—at the guy. He finally stopped just a few feet from where I was about to run him over, and he just looked at me like, “What! Fine, go ahead, then, if you must!” I swear, I about wanted to strangle the guy! (Naturally, the car pulling out of the parking spot—whose driver was NOT on the phone—saw me in plenty of time and waited for me to pass.)

I guess I’m curious: Does this make me bitter? Am I an angry person? I use my cell phone, from time to time, in the car. I try to be careful and pay close attention to my surroundings. I try to use the phone minimally in the car… I honestly don’t like driving and talking on it at the same time. So am I feeling superior? Or am I just mad because I almost ran someone over who acted like it was MY fault that he was jaywalking in a snowstorm AND not paying attention to the traffic around him!?  Grrrr…. I’m thinking my front bumper sticker should actually say, “Hang up and WALK!” J