THE HIGHWAY 'CHEATER'

Hey there sagacious reader.  One of the (many) things that drive me crazy when I'm on the road is the people that use the left or right hand-turn-only lanes as their personal pass to jump to the head of the line.  This happens often and most times these drivers get away with it. So unfair.  Where's the justice?

One day not too long ago I set out for my local Wal*Mart.  Where I live, it's easiest to take the highway and there are only a few traffic lights along the way. Most of these have a left or right-turn-only lane. (only being the operative word here) I suppose it's for the convenience of the drivers wanting to turn left or right and to alleviate some of the traffic build up, but who really knows what goes on in the minds of the road planners. No matter.

All in all it was a good day. The weather was nice; warm and sunny.  I was in a good mood.  Really.  It happens from time to time.  I made it all the way to the highway, which is a good half mile or so from my house without getting pissed off once.  A miracle in itself!  So I had high hopes for a happy, peaceful trip to the store.

There was quite a bit of traffic on the highway that day which I found unusual. It was early afternoon in the middle of the week.  What, doesn't anybody work anymore?  Anyway, I'm (slowly) driving along in the right lane, listening to my music, minding my own business, patiently (aargh, so damn difficult) biding my time.  Now this highway has only two lanes which may be why they incorporated the turn-only lanes. (Again, who knows?) So I crawl my way closer to the 2nd light which does indeed have a right-turn-only lane.  And it's a long one.  Probably a quarter mile or so.  At this point, I'm closer to the back of it in my respective lane than the front.  And there I stop as the light has turned red and all the people in front of me have stopped.  (This was obviously not going to be the day of traffic mutiny.) 

As I'm sitting there, I see this guy go by in the turn lane.  He was driving some kind of black sports car.  I had a feeling about that dude, I just knew he was going to try something.  And I never thought for a moment that he was going to turn right. Especially when he made no move to do so when he had the chance. A true indication of his (devious) intentions.  And sure enough he did not let me down. The light turns green and off he goes. Pedal to the metal, rubber-burning, smoke-belching jump to the front of the line! Surprise!

No, not really.  Not surprised at all.  Happens more frequently than it should. And I don't know why it bugs me so much.  But it does.  So be it.  Get over it and move along.  I did.  After all, the store was still there, the shopping still needed to get done.  The world moves on.

Still, it bothered me and put a crimp in my good mood.  I felt disgruntled and resentful.  Silly, I know.  But there it is.  I turned up my music and forced myself to calm down, take a deep breath, accept the reality of the world as it is not as it should be.  Feeling somewhat mollified I continued on to the store. When, lo and behold, up ahead I came upon a wondrous sight. 



Over on the side of the road, I spied a highway patrol car, lights flashing. And in front of the cruiser, the black sports car.  Yep, the very one!  Can anyone say "Ticket Time"?  Well, let me tell you, that brought a big old smile to my face.  Finally.  After all this time.  Someone actually got spotted. Caught in the act. Nailed! So, if he was in a big hurry for one reason or another, I guess it didn't do him much good, hm?  HA!  I loved it. Just loved it.  Somehow I felt vindicated.  Don't ask me why. Don't know.  But I will tell you this, that was truly a beautiful moment. My good mood completely restored, I continued on.
 
As for the rest of you (and you know who you are); you who choose to use the 'turn only' lanes to jump ahead of the crowd; you who have thus far managed to avoid the long arm on the law, I say BITE ME!