Driving and Weather

It's so funny how sensitive the people who choose to call Los Angeles their home are as far as weather and temperatures! Today, after running two errands at about 6 p.m., I was at a stoplight. The light turned green and as I put my foot on the gas the guy behind me laid on his horn. Apparently I wasn't as lightening fast as he would have liked. Anyhow I proceeded and he sped around in front of me and slammed on his brakes for no apparent reason other than some misguided form of retaliation aka road rage.

Then at the next stop sign, he just sits there, totally confusing the other drivers at the 4-way stop. Finally after letting three cars go while he sits, he pulls forward giving me the finger. I observed that his windows were rolled up so he's enjoying air conditioning and not dying of the heat (it was still about 94F/34-35C). Yet he's apparently still crazed for some reason.

Unfortunately, I'm going in the same direction as him. We both turn into the same shopping center, I drove down an aisle and parked. As I walked into the store I could see him at the far side of the parking lot pulling into a Taco Bell drive-thru. I guess his haste was because he was starving?

It seems that any change in the weather here makes people a little (or a lot) crazy. When it drizzles they forget how to drive...acting like they're driving on eggs or driving so fast they swirl out of control on the oil slick streets covered with rain. When the temperatures suddenly jump from the 70's (21+C) to high 90's (32+C) they drive like madmen. They're either super aggressive or totally daft like the guy on his bicycle weaving back and forth across the lanes of traffic in complete oblivion, causing the drivers of cars to also drive crazy in order to avoid hitting him. If the sun's not out and the day is overcast, they drive slower than molasses. It just amazes me.

Kind of makes me wish for a little black ice to totally freak them out. Heh, heh, heh.