My favorite time for driving in Summer. School is out, the roads finally calm down, and for a minute it feels like the world remembers how to breathe. And honestly, does anyone else hate driving now.

I used to love it. The freedom, the quiet, the let’s just go for a drive and clear my head feeling. Now every time I leave the house, I am either irritated, scared, or irritated because I got scared.

And let me say this upfront. If you are one of those people who goes from mild annoyance to full on homicidal rage behind the wheel, you need to get a grip. It is not that deep.

But seriously, why can’t anyone drive anymore.

I am not pretending I am perfect. I have done dumb things on the road. I know it the second it happens and I feel like an idiot. But at least when you know you messed up, you try not to repeat it. That is the difference.

Like the other day. Four way stop. I stop. She stops after me, but she is to my right. I let the car ahead of me go, then I go. And this woman, who absolutely saw me stop first, suddenly decides she should go too. She rolls forward like she owns the intersection and then lays on her horn at me like I personally ruined her day. She had pedestrians to wait for (we are driving in a historic small town road). She was not ahead of me. And if she had hit me, it would have been her fault. Come on.

Why are we like this. Why do people think it is normal to tailgate, cut people off, weave through traffic, or act like the road belongs to them and the rest of us are just in their way.

If I am already going ten over and you are still glued to my bumper, go around me. If it is a one lane road and I am going the speed limit, get off my ass. If we are in traffic and no one can move any faster, do not flick me off like I am the one controlling the universe.

And flipping someone off. Absolutely not. People’s crazy flags are flying high these days. You do not know who is going to go full Criminal Minds over a hand gesture. Do I sometimes want to. Yes. Do I value staying alive. Also yes.

So how do we fix this. I honestly do not know. People are getting worse, not better. All we can do is drive, ignore the idiots, and remind ourselves that half the time the jerk who cut you off ends up at the same red light anyway. Or turns at the next street. Or gets off at the next exit. All that drama for nothing.

And do not tell me you cannot tell the difference between someone being a jerk and someone rushing because something is actually wrong. You can see it. The panic, the crying, the fear. There is a difference.

Also, I will not lie. It is deeply satisfying when a cop is in the right place at the right time and catches one of the road goblins in the act. If that offends you because you drive like a jerk, that is on you.

For the rest of us who are just over it, I bow in respect. Deep breath. We will survive. This is coming from someone who remembers driving down a road and not seeing another car for miles.

Ok, I am jumping off my soap box, though I am sure I will jump on it again.