g***r
发帖数: 281 | 1 http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/01/opinion/granderson-right-lane/ind
LZ Granderson says drivers don't appreciate being trapped behind a slow-
moving car in the left lane.
Editor's note: LZ Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was
named journalist of the year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists
Association and is a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary.
He is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com and
the 2009 winner of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation award for
online journalism. Follow him on Twitter at
Grand Rapids, Michigan (CNN) -- There is a place for people who enjoy
soaking in the beautiful colors of fall and all the other amazing scenes of
nature as they drive down the open highway.
It's called the right lane.
If you're sightseeing or rubbernecking in the left, get your butt over.
Why is that rule so freakin' hard to follow?
As drivers, we do a lot of things that irritate each other.
We signal but never turn.
We turn but don't signal.
We forget who is supposed to go next at a four-way stop sign.
But nothing comes close to the level of irritation that comes from being
stuck behind someone doing 55 in a 65 in the far left lane. Drive the speed
you want, but why infringe on the rights of those in a hurry? To me, that's
giving the rest of us on the road the finger in the most passive aggressive
-- "Who me?"-- way possible. In fact, I would much rather have someone pull
up beside me, roll down their window and flip me the bird as they go driving
by than be trapped behind this vehicular anarchist.
And you know they see you.
They see all of us -- bobbing and weaving in their rearview mirror, trying
to find a gap between the lanes big enough so we may be able to slip through
and go on with our lives. But nooooooooo -- these offenders don't feel
obligated to go any faster and they refuse to move over to the right because
in their sanctimonious minds, they're going fast enough for all of us.
That's why they go through great lengths to ignore the high beams glaring in
their eyes. And they don't look over at you when you do eventually pass
because they can't stop being prickly, not even for the three seconds it
takes for us to look at them with our signature, highway glare that says:
The thing is there are about 312 million people in the United States and
roughly 250 million registered vehicles. There will always be somebody
somewhere driving faster ... it's easier for everyone to just let them.
Besides, think of all the harm caused by slowpokes?
For example, how are cops going to hand out speeding tickets if no one can
speed?
And what about all the coffee shops that are losing money from the customers
who don't have time to pull into the drive-thru before work because they've
been trapped behind "Speedy" for five miles.
Essentially, slow drivers in the left lane are like job killers, and if
elected president I would seek a constitutional amendment making lane
hoarding illegal.
And not just on the highway, but in every facet of life.
The folks who like to walk side-by-side chatting on the track at the gym.
You know who you are -- move it.
The people who stand on an escalator in such a way as to take up the entire
step should be assessed a property tax, especially in airports where they
know everybody around them is trying to get somewhere else.
Really, is it so hard to stand to the right so those people who need to run
up the stairs to make their flight, likely because they were trapped behind
a slow driver in the left lane on the way to the airport, have a better
chance of doing so?
If you're visiting a new city, don't stand in the middle of a busy sidewalk
to look up or read a map. Step off to the side so those who live there can
get to where they are going. This is especially true for the too cute
newlyweds who like take up 75% of the sidewalk holding hands and staring
into each other's eyes.
You don't have to get a room, but you do need to get the hell out of the way.
This week we celebrated the 7 billionth person being born, and the first
thing I thought about was who is going to teach that person how to drive?
How to share the global common space that is slowly becoming more crowded,
requiring us to be more aware of the needs of the people all around us?
Because at the end of the day, that's what the left lane is really all about
. It's not about how fast someone is going. It's about having an agreed upon
space where we let each other pass on by.
A space we agree upon to let each other be.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson. | t******7
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