BEE-BEEP!
As a retired transit bus-driver from Rochester’s Regional Transit Service, I approach every driving situation with extreme caution; enough to drive the average NASCAR wannabee completely bonkers.
This includes the exit from mighty Weggers onto Eastern Blvd., a location not that intimidating, but it can be.
The exit is essentially a through-street intersection, although most traffic is turning onto Eastern Blvd., east or west.
But it is possible to cross Eastern Blvd. into the old Chase-Pitkin parking-lot across the street, and vice versa.
It’s signaled, so I’m waiting at the head of the Weggers exit lane, signaled to turn left (west) onto Eastern Blvd.
Behind me is a dark-brown Isuzu Rodeo, driven by GrandPa.
No signal, but it looks like he’s gonna turn left too.
Across the street are four cars in the exit lane from the old Chase-Pitkin parking-lot.
The first, third and fourth cars are signaled to turn left.
The second car I can’t see.
The light changes, so I venture gingerly into the intersection.
The cars in the Chase-Pitkin exit begin turning left — all but car #2, which suddenly lurches rightward around car #1 to go straight across the intersection.
All of a sudden, behind me; BEE-BEEP!
I glance in my mirror and GrandPa is going catatonic.
He’s angrily thumping the steering-wheel, and bouncing up-and-down in the seat.
A vision of Rush Limbaugh in highest dudgeon railing against “liberials.”
“Like the guy had his signal on......” Why couldn’t I just charge into the intersection?
Well, HEX-KYOOZE ME, GrandPa; but I drove transit bus, and after nearly having my bus T-boned by a dude with an erroneous signal, I hold back until I actually see the car start turning.
Furthermore, there was that second car I couldn’t see. And guess what, GrandPa; he went straight. If I had charged into the intersection, there woulda been a head-on.
We angle onto Eastern Blvd. GrandPa lunges around me, toots his horn, and gives me the one-finger salute.
No turn signal for the sudden lane change.
• For 16&1/2 years (1977-1993) I drove transit bus for Regional Transit Service, the transit-bus operator in Rochester, NY.
• “Mighty Weggers” is Wegmans, a large supermarket-chain based in Rochester we often buy groceries at. They have a store in Canandaigua. “Chase-Pitkin” was a home-supply super-store affiliated with Wegmans, but it went defunct. The old Chase-Pitkin across from the Canandaigua Wegmans was parceled out, but the building still exists. Other Chase-Pitkins were sold or turn down.
• “Eastern Blvd.” is a four-lane east-west main road southeast and out of Canandaigua. It’s lined with big-box stores; one of which is Wegmans.
• “Liberial” is how my loudmouthed macho brother-from-Boston noisily insists “liberal” is spelled. (Recently it’s “liberila” or “libieral.”)
This includes the exit from mighty Weggers onto Eastern Blvd., a location not that intimidating, but it can be.
The exit is essentially a through-street intersection, although most traffic is turning onto Eastern Blvd., east or west.
But it is possible to cross Eastern Blvd. into the old Chase-Pitkin parking-lot across the street, and vice versa.
It’s signaled, so I’m waiting at the head of the Weggers exit lane, signaled to turn left (west) onto Eastern Blvd.
Behind me is a dark-brown Isuzu Rodeo, driven by GrandPa.
No signal, but it looks like he’s gonna turn left too.
Across the street are four cars in the exit lane from the old Chase-Pitkin parking-lot.
The first, third and fourth cars are signaled to turn left.
The second car I can’t see.
The light changes, so I venture gingerly into the intersection.
The cars in the Chase-Pitkin exit begin turning left — all but car #2, which suddenly lurches rightward around car #1 to go straight across the intersection.
All of a sudden, behind me; BEE-BEEP!
I glance in my mirror and GrandPa is going catatonic.
He’s angrily thumping the steering-wheel, and bouncing up-and-down in the seat.
A vision of Rush Limbaugh in highest dudgeon railing against “liberials.”
“Like the guy had his signal on......” Why couldn’t I just charge into the intersection?
Well, HEX-KYOOZE ME, GrandPa; but I drove transit bus, and after nearly having my bus T-boned by a dude with an erroneous signal, I hold back until I actually see the car start turning.
Furthermore, there was that second car I couldn’t see. And guess what, GrandPa; he went straight. If I had charged into the intersection, there woulda been a head-on.
We angle onto Eastern Blvd. GrandPa lunges around me, toots his horn, and gives me the one-finger salute.
No turn signal for the sudden lane change.
• For 16&1/2 years (1977-1993) I drove transit bus for Regional Transit Service, the transit-bus operator in Rochester, NY.
• “Mighty Weggers” is Wegmans, a large supermarket-chain based in Rochester we often buy groceries at. They have a store in Canandaigua. “Chase-Pitkin” was a home-supply super-store affiliated with Wegmans, but it went defunct. The old Chase-Pitkin across from the Canandaigua Wegmans was parceled out, but the building still exists. Other Chase-Pitkins were sold or turn down.
• “Eastern Blvd.” is a four-lane east-west main road southeast and out of Canandaigua. It’s lined with big-box stores; one of which is Wegmans.
• “Liberial” is how my loudmouthed macho brother-from-Boston noisily insists “liberal” is spelled. (Recently it’s “liberila” or “libieral.”)
Labels: Driving insanity
posted by BobbaLew at 11:20 AM
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