rage against the machine(s)

Does anyone else think that we might be getting angrier and angrier as, like, a society? I am the first to admit that I've been known to get really mad at other drivers while sitting in traffic. And why not? People are more often concentrating more on their phone call or their children than on the road. We've started multi-tasking during tasks that really should warrant our complete attention. Such as hurtling down the street in a giant, gasoline-filled deathbox. Complete attention seems like a good idea, right?

Anyway. As part of my ongoing effort to be happier and to add zen to my life, I've made serious efforts to stop raging at other drivers. Live and let live. Practice diligence for both me and the other person who should be watching the road, so we don't end up colliding at some point (I really don't want to test out how well my airbags work).

Another sore spot for many is parking. I'll go ahead and admit that I drive a compact car and I've been known to curse SUV drivers who park in compact spaces, or generally cars that take up more than one parking space in tight Los Angeles parking lots. So it was with amusement that I read Kristy's post last week about a rude SUV driver (with the requisite Support Our Troops sticker) who took up two parking spaces. I'm totally on board with her posting the snapped picture and talking about how rude this person was on her blog. What surprised me though was the comments to Kristy's post. Sure, I know the internet gets all kinds of nutcases posting about crazy stuff, but really folks. People advocating keying cars of parking offenders or slashing tires. Let's take a moment for some perspective.

On the other hand, I am all for pointing out the horrible parking job to the offender, whether in person or by putting a note on the windshield. (I even included my story of confronting a rude-parker in person in her comments before they started getting a bit out of hand.) Let's just think a bit about scale of the wrong and why escalation is not good for anyone involved. Give [vehicular] peace a chance, man.