"Grant me patience, Lord, but hurry..."

Why are people so aggressive? This area gives "Type A" a new meaning! Despite the fact that I've always been impatient and can have a less than positive attitude sometimes, I really do have regard for other people and I respect people's right to have a choice. I would never think of forcing people to do what I want just because...but I think I'm in the minority sometimes!

Just to illustrate one example of this ridiculous behavior...while driving to work this morning, I was making a left turn (crossing traffic obviously) and a bus beside me was turning right. I couldn't see to the right around this bus, and there were cars coming from my left, but they had turn signals on (not necessarily meaning they would actually turn, as I've learned living in this area).

Before I even got to the stop sign, after seeing the bus come to a stop, I planned to wait until I could see to my right before darting out into the street...how dare I, you say? Before I had even completely stopped at the stop sign, the guy in the car behind me beeped his horn. I looked in my rear view mirror and he was yelling at me and waving his hands as if saying..."GO." It made me a little angry, but I couldn't just pull into the street hoping there were no cars coming from my right and that the people on my left were actually turning, so I proceeded to look for oncoming traffic...stupid me!

The guy laid on his horn and waved his arms frantically (literally about 5 seconds after I actually stopped, and the bus was still turning so I still couldn't see). There was a car behind him, who couldn't possibly have seen through the buildings to our right or around the concrete structure to our left to see any cars whatsoever. He/She started beeping too! It made me furious, and not very motivated to move any faster!

At the next corner, the guy pulled up beside me, rolled down his window and continued screaming and used both verbal and non-verbal obscenities. I was considering returning the obscenities, but I didn't. Instead, I decided I'd just smile and wave...hopefully making him more angry than I was at the moment.

I'm learning two very important lessons...patience really is a virtue, and that being a smart ass can make me feel better than returning the negativity others are displaying.