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Where Has Our Collective Patience Gone?

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I had a ten o’clock appointment this morning – a way overdue oil change and inspection for the special price of $57.45, which we KNOW will never cost just that because there will be this and the other.  A whole nother story.

I leave my house at 9:25, giving myself more than ample time to get there. I take the exit to get on Highway 132 to head west. This exit, like most, if not all, the ones in Quebec, is beyond annoying. It means peeps have to criss-cross each other to get to where they want to go.  Those coming out of the tunnel and wanting to go east must try to squeeze in by those coming from Hwy 20 (like me) who want to go west. There are three lanes going into two, the middle one being used for either east or west. Heaven forbid the guy going in the same direction as you actually lets you in. No, no, we don’t want that so we force them to slow down by turning towards them. It is quite the spectacle. Of course the two lanes leading west will merge into one so the ones on the right must find their way into the left before reaching the highway itself.  Again, fun stuff.

Once on the hightway, the speed limit is 100 km/h which most of us figure means minimum.  Ahem. And so we drive at 110-119 (because rumour has it the cops won’t waste their time before you hit 120). I am driving along, listening to my music and the traffic slows. The guy behind me is so far up my ass I figure he’d like me to pop the trunk so he could hitch a ride.  There are cars ahead of me and beside me. It is obvious I could not even try to move over and let him fly by. I raise my hand to him in a “what the fuck do you want from me?” manner and ignore him.  The reason the traffic had slowed? There was a truck in the right lane behind a tree that had just blown over INTO THE HIGHWAY! Did I forget to mention the wind is beyond fierce today?

We pass said situation and I can move over. “Honda-Casquette” – We call the young pups with their Hondas and their baseball caps (“casquette”) this endearing term – because they all have the same bad driving habits. My son is one though he doesn’t wear baseball caps.  Anyhoo… Honda-Casquette speeds past me, swerves in front of me and then, get this, slams on the brakes so he can take the same exit I am.  Dude. He is then stuck behind others making their way towards another highway (see merging scenario above).  Soon as he gets a chance, he once again swerves in front of me and takes off like a bat outta hell. I see him flying between cars ahead zipping in and out. I do not wish ill on these drivers because of karma. But if I did…

I pull into my dealer’s garage, greet my service guy, at 9:50, by the way, and regale him and his cohorts with my tale. He then tells me that this morning the peeps with appointments seemed to think the time given was just a “guideline” of sorts.

As if your 7:30 appointment means any time between 7:30 and 8:30.  Sigh. My one-hour appointment was going to be longer, I am afraid.  “No worries, J-F, I had planned on going for a leisurely breakfast and brought my book.”  And off I go, practically blown across the street. Of course it starts to rain and of course, I have no hood on my jacket but I make my way – a good, I dunno 1000 feet away? and arrive rather wet.  Get my booth and my coffee and am promptly forgotten by my waitress.

Two chapters and an empty cup later, my waitress sheepishly comes by and says, so sorry, we’re not busy, which ironically I understand as I now am in the bidness. We make more mistakes and forget more things when we have too much time on our hands. Good thing her colleague noticed me sitting there.  She takes my order, brings me another coffee and I’m happy.

By 11:45, I make my way back to the dealership and sit down, figuring my car should be ready.  I decide to get up to get the wifi password and can see into the garage where I note my car is up in the air. Groovy. I am so glad my book is good.

Jean-François comes to get me sometime close to one o’clock. Total bill? $161.58. A little of this and a little of that.

I had plans to go do some shopping and whatnot but frankly, I just wanted to get home. I drive out of the lot and some doofus has blocked an entrance to another business so the guy coming towards us cannot get in and is blocking his lane. I shake my head and wait for the light, let the guy pass and miss my own light. Fine.  The guy behind me starts honking because we are allowed to turn right on red after 9 am. However, I do not feel inclined to run over the pedestrian who is making his way across. Again my WTF hands go up. The man makes it to the curb so I turn onto my street.  Guy behind me drives to my right on the shoulder only to see there is a truck parked in the way so now he has to come back in. And is lucky the guy in front of me did coz no way in hell I would have.  I am laughing in my car all by myself, lemme tell you.  We pass the truck and the guy once again goes onto the shoulder to take the same exit as I am, which is a grand total of 25 feet (maybe, I may exaggerate) away.  Patience. Zilch.

 

114 thoughts on “Where Has Our Collective Patience Gone?”

  6. Goodness. I have to tell you that I was driving on a divided highway that had one of those steel post and cable dividers. It was sleeting and I was going slowly. A guy in a four wheel drive was on my butt then roared past me. Well about a mile down the road here was the guy hung up on the divider. Sweet. Didn’t stop to render aid. Wanted to stop and laugh but needed to move on.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I’m glad you survived the day and can share the stress in an upbeat post.

    I remember, yes I remember well, those interchanges with their one-size-fits-all exit-enter-merge chaos! I hate them, quite frankly. 😦

    I also remember how traffic flies on the freeways — until you hit the odd “I’m lost here” driver. One day on the #40 doing about 115 km the driver ahead of me realized he’d just passed his exit. So he came to a dead STOP — and started BACKING UP to the missed off-ramp. I almost stopped, then looked in my rear-view mirror to see a semi barrelling straight for me, smoke coming off his tires. Thankfully the left lane was free and I could zip around, or I’d have been the tomato in the steel sandwich.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Ah Dale, your day is so indicative of many of us but you write it in a way that i have to laugh at and enjoy to read. believe me when I say that my days like this do not end in me laughing, but something else entirely different. lol. Well done.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Wow, how different your life from mine. 7:30 bus to Norwich, 8:50 bus to Attlebridge, walk 5 miles along Marriotts Way, loads of fungi and autumnal foliage, unfortunately also drizzly, mizzly misty rain… not good for the camera. Lunch along the way, stopped in a pub for coffee at Drayton, chatted to a couple of nice guys, continued on our way for another three miles, caught bus the last little distance into Norwich (cos on a damp day 8 miles is enough), bus back to Yarmouth. Late in, late to late, late to peel off the damp clothes. Hurting and tired, tried to catch up on the posts, but didn’t get yours. Sleep insistence. Good morning, Dale.

    Liked by 1 person

    • We’ve only had it a few years now and there are streets where you can’t at all or at certain times like this one. By law, you do not have to go at all and others are not allowed to honk at you if you choose not to. That putz would have me hit the pedestrian (who, he obviously did not see). C’est frustrant!!

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Dear Dale,

    Oh dear. What a day! I hope you didn’t get blown away on top of it all. BTW we call those little Hondas crotch rockets. They seem to only be ridden by arseholes who think they own the road. I once had one come up behind me and pass me at great speed. It was a day for satisfying Karma. There at the bottom of the hill was a highway patrolman. I couldn’t resist. I waved at them as I passed by, following the speed limit, wide grin plastered across my face.
    Then the wait. Oy. I once waited 4 hours for my car at the dealership only to find that I’d been marked as going home and not waiting there. I was furious.
    At any rate, now that I’ve made it all about me, your story left me breathless and irritated. I hope you were able to settle in last night with soothing glass of wine and some sarcasm with friends. 😉

    Shalom and lotsa hugs,

    Rochelle

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Rochelle,

      I almost did! Crotch Rockets! Buahahaha! I so love it! And yes, that is about the only thing I would wish on them – that karma thing…

      That’s part of the fun of blogging – it gives one a forum to exchange stories. At least I had prepared for a two-hour wait… That extra hour was a – umm – bonus. Yeah, that’s it, a bonus 😉
      And yes, that is exactly what I did plus hours of Call the Midwife 😉

      Shalom and lotsa love with wine and friends,

      Dale

      Like

    • Ha ha! Of course it was great fodder for a post 😉 Thank goodness not all days are like that!
      I admit to not being a public transport gal…

      Like

  14. Q,

    Peeps are in a hurry to get nowhere in particular, because that’s what I always think to myself when someone passes me going 65 in a 25. Like . . where in the blessed fuck are you going man? Home to play with yourself? G’luck with that holmes!

    I think it speaks to the collective psychosis of a totally preoccupied world where people do not exist inside of moments except in the most vicarious of ways. So when they get in their car, it’s like they feel as if they finally have control over something. Which they don’t of course. And this delusional mindset isn’t just stupid, it’s dangerous.

    That said, I hate when people don’t abide by traffic signs/lights/etc. I no longer make gestures or lay on the horn though, seeing as how you never know if someone’s toting heat any longer.

    Love the songs! Of course . . .

    B

    Liked by 1 person

    • B,

      Yep. Your need to weave in and out of traffic to get to where you are going in a dangerous manner makes you look like a raving eejit. What in the blessed fuck is your hurry?

      Oh, hell yes. I am the centre of my universe and you are in my way. It is so dangerous.

      I know! I saw the “no turning right on light” sign, so I stopped. After the honking, I relooked at the sign and saw in itty bitty letters below that it applied to the 6-9 am slot. Meanwhile, I DID see the man crossing the street – man who had the pedestrian right-of-way, by the way which is why I could not help but throw up my hands (I never lay on the horn unless someone is “sliding” into my lane towards me). And that worry is a “Murican thing”…

      So glad you did. I was counting on you for noticing my musical choices (I had to put the two because I couldn’t decide between ’em!) and no one else commented.

      Q

      Liked by 1 person

      • I was stuck in traffic yesterday so I started to rolodex my escape. Ten minutes changed my plans but it ended up alright . . with nary a honk or a middle finger.

        Oh, and when I WANT to give the middle finger to some asshole, I wave instead. This really pisses peeps off. Like the drugstore cowboy who honked his horn on me, after which I waved. As he passed me he honked again and they we were, side by side . .him honking and me blowing a kiss his way and laughing. I am pretty sure that WAS worse than the finger as far as he was concerned. Fuck him.

        We have Stop signs inside of certain shopping areas that NOBODY pays any attention to! They go right through them, and so every once in a while I have to learn them a lesson about Stop signs and how they work as I cross the street.

        Of course. That’s more of my wheelhouse right there.

        Liked by 1 person

  19. Hey! ⚡️💥We have all that stuff here. We must be related.
    So, I decide walking is faster, and less stressful, and get hit by a cyclist.
    I was obeying all pedestrian rules, and was on the sidewalk. Now, my back is screwed!

    Liked by 1 person

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