“Turning right here! It is a better route to work,” states my co-worker.
Yes, every passenger has a differing opinion on how best to travel. Most people choose the FASTEST as the benchmark to GOOD driving.
“Ha ha I beat you there. Jeez man you drive too slow!”
This public or common sense opinion never stops coming out of people’s mouths. We all drive; hence we are all good at it, is my guess.
Over time this mass opinion grows into parenthood, and soon the product of this common wisdom is sitting behind the wheel of my driving school car, as a new driver!
“Are they tooting at me?” panics the new driver as their head and laser eyes hunt madly amongst the half dozen cars behind us.
Surprisingly to me, many react overly aggressive with an arm out the window, middle finger high in the air, followed with ‘Asshole!’ Or ‘I am just learning!” as their anger blankets the entire scene.
Many openly tell me that their biggest fear is having someone behind toot at them. This powerful force is continually pushing them, go faster, go faster, and it’s always there, even when it’s not there! That deep fear of embarrassment or shame, of publicly doing something wrong is overpowering, an invisible hand, feeding the go, go go!
Smashing into the other objects, drifting into parked cars, bolting forward into a hurried uncontrolled turn, is NOT IMPORTANT, in comparison to escaping the shame!
“No! They were not tooting at you,” I calmly state, having no real effect on the primal explosion that has already occurred.
My previous ten years of teaching never once saw this kind of reaction. Yet here today I see this extreme reaction multiple times a week!
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