The idea for the Accord of Blatant Courtesy, and the subsequent letter it appears in, was definitely influenced by two specific events, but the truth of its message is reitterated on a daily basis by friends, family, and strangers alike. The first event was referenced in the letter, the second was too ridiculous to expand on for my 500 word limit. But here goes.
While driving home from church one early afternoon a licence-plateless vehicle appears in my rearview mirror with a handicapped tag hanging from its own rearview. I stop at a pedestrian crosswalk to allow two girls to cross from another church into the town square, and this is not something my Rearview Amigo is fond of. He continues to follow close behind as we approach town, and tightly trails me through two turns. Oh yeah, he's toting two jetskis on a trailer. That's right, handicapped tag + jetskis = either tremendous foreshadowing or tag abuse. So I maintain the speed limit to the max, much to the chagrine of Rearview Amigo, stop at another crosswalk, and proceed home with him close behind. He is not happy. He yells from his window, something unintelligible, as I turn on my street and I shout back, "Slow down." Why is a handicapped person in such a rush to get his 2 jetskis into the water? And if so, why is he using residential roads?
I leave Rt. 34 Landscape Supply with a bed-full of brown dyed mulch (which is really of no consequence). I reach a travel road at the same time a Wall Public Works Streetsweeper reaches the road 20 feet away from the recycling center. He will be traveling my direction as I turn onto the road, and I use him as blocker to ease my heavy load into the roadway. Before my blinker can hit its automatic shutoff position, Streetsweeper has filled my rearview mirror with this steed and my ears with his horn. Granted, the speed limit on the road is 40mph. But I had no idea Streetsweeper had the pickup of a funny car. Who was driving that thing, John Force? And where's the respect of fellow service workers?
Anyway, those were my two wake-up calls. Thanks for reading!
While driving home from church one early afternoon a licence-plateless vehicle appears in my rearview mirror with a handicapped tag hanging from its own rearview. I stop at a pedestrian crosswalk to allow two girls to cross from another church into the town square, and this is not something my Rearview Amigo is fond of. He continues to follow close behind as we approach town, and tightly trails me through two turns. Oh yeah, he's toting two jetskis on a trailer. That's right, handicapped tag + jetskis = either tremendous foreshadowing or tag abuse. So I maintain the speed limit to the max, much to the chagrine of Rearview Amigo, stop at another crosswalk, and proceed home with him close behind. He is not happy. He yells from his window, something unintelligible, as I turn on my street and I shout back, "Slow down." Why is a handicapped person in such a rush to get his 2 jetskis into the water? And if so, why is he using residential roads?
I leave Rt. 34 Landscape Supply with a bed-full of brown dyed mulch (which is really of no consequence). I reach a travel road at the same time a Wall Public Works Streetsweeper reaches the road 20 feet away from the recycling center. He will be traveling my direction as I turn onto the road, and I use him as blocker to ease my heavy load into the roadway. Before my blinker can hit its automatic shutoff position, Streetsweeper has filled my rearview mirror with this steed and my ears with his horn. Granted, the speed limit on the road is 40mph. But I had no idea Streetsweeper had the pickup of a funny car. Who was driving that thing, John Force? And where's the respect of fellow service workers?
Anyway, those were my two wake-up calls. Thanks for reading!
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