Today, CY and I went to Porter Square to get some stuff from the supermarket. On our way home, we were approaching an intersection and preparing to enter a left-turn-only lane to turn left. Suddenly this car behind us, who was running on yellow lines and fighting to enter the lane prematurely, honked at us. LOUDLY. In a PROLONGED fashion. The kind you put your hand on the honk, refuse to let go of the pressure and in fact, even press harder as time passes. What nerve! I had my indicators on for ages (all car were waiting at a red light before this happened) and unless the driver behind us has faulty photoreceptors that refuse to fire at the same frequency as our indicator, he should have already known our intention to move into that lane once the traffic ahead cleared up. When we got to doing that, he chose to attempt squeezing in the lane first, and when my car veered into his path, he actually had the nerve to honk instead of stepping on his brakes first. What on earth is wrong with people like him?
This marks a good time to summarize our driving experience in Boston so far. People on the roads here are literally monsters. Each time you turn on the indicator to attempt to change lane, the car directly behind speeds up. Well, maybe the first car just wants to clear out of the way. Then, the second car speeds up too. And then, the THIRD car speeds up too. All zooming on in a defiance act to cut you before you change lane. Sometimes, it's safer to change lane without turning on indicator.
We are thought to slow at traffic intersection, prepare to stop if there is amber. Not for Bostonians. They operate at a more advanced level. They speed up to intersection, if there is amber, CHEONG AH! If it just turns red, CHEONG AH! Perhaps the US military will do a better job just sending Bostonians to Iraq or Afghanistan to drive their tanks.
To emerge from a small road into a major one, our driving instructors teach us to check for clear traffic and then inch forward, check again and then proceed. Bostonians totally simplify the procedure for us. Just stick your car out. It's ok to block traffic. The whole world will wait for you, and you transverse across to the lane you want to travel in.
Even better. Say if you are at an intersection. You look to your right and see a car intending to leave a street side parking lot, and you want to park. Then the light turns green, and you have to move, because otherwise you are blocking vehicles behind you, which are blocking the car which intends to leave the parking lot. Pop quiz: What would you do? Well, a normal human being in the world will say "Geez, tough luck!". Again, not for Bostonians. To them, it's "YES!" They stop right there, shift into reverse gear to kindly inform the cars behind that they want to reverse into the parking lot (which if you check above, is not even vacant yet because they do not allow traffic to pass). Their next step: endure 10 seconds of honking. Cars behind them have no choice but to pass around them. The leaving car finally gets to vacate the parking lot. Then the indifferent car pulled into the lot. The driver got off and walked away, as if nothing happened.
Boston is home to the two greatest learning institutions in the world. Yet, who would have guessed, she may be more famous for having re-invented the rules of driving completely and TOTALLY.
