my promised letter

A few weeks ago I pulled into the GS fitness center for my morning workout. As i pulled my car around the parking lot looking for a space, i couldn't help but notice there was an especially large vehicle (a monstrosity of an SUV -so large in fact that it is exempt from meeting federal fuel economy stadards - see http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/which_tested.shtml) straddling the center line between two parking spaces. i swallowed the urge to write a little note to be left on the windshield and instead tried to focus on the yoga class in which i was about to participate.

Unfortunately, i'm a yoga noice and my emotional capacity, not being as well-conditioned as my body, was unprepared for what i next witnessed. as i was stepping into my smal European-manufacturer-produced car, the owner of the Monstrosity was in her vehicle as well. As we were both pulling out of the parking lot, she ended up in front of me.

i noticed that she did not use a turn signal while turning onto BTown road. Nor did whe use one while turning onto main street. i happened to follow her left onto NW Highway because i was on my way to the library. as she turned (again, sans turn signal) she made her way towards the left lane, so i accelerated into the right lane. to my surprise, she cut to within five feet of the front of my car into the right lane without so much as the courtesy to let me know by way of a blinker. not that the lack of a turn signal is the most grave error; the serious problem was that i got the feeling she was driving knowing full well that her vehicle is bigger than maybe 95% of everyone else out there and therefore disregarding the rules that we small people follow.

Driving through the BTown area i have noticed the increasing popularity of these XXL SUVs. i see more and more people driving them around. so for the sake of small people maybe we could establish a few ground rules.

First, please don't forget how much bigger you are than most of us; please be considerate of your fellow drivers even if you are looking down on them through their sunroofs. Second, if you insist on driving such a large vehicle, please also insist on knowing how to properly maneuver it - specifically, please first learn how to park it within the lines of one parking space before you take it out for a spin. Third, (and this goes to everyone who uses a gas-dependent vehicle) please use your vehicle as conservatively as possible, at least until XXL SUVs are hydrogen-powered. And finally, if you would be so kind, please help us smaller people out of ditches should the occasion arise, as your vehicles are much more powerful than ours and designed for heavy-duty projects such as hauling things.

If you choose to purchase such a large vehicle, obviously it is your perogative and i congratulate you on being able to indeed purchase one. but please remember to share the roads with those of us who drive smaller vehicles.

i think with the current situation with gas prices this letter seemed appropriate...? i really hope i'm not on the fast track to becoming one of those nutty old ladies that writes letters about every little thing - we have a neighbor like that, she is annoying as hell. a few years ago she left a little note in our mailbox with an invoice attached. it demanded the reimbursement of $40 for having this little corner of the road (which she thought was our property) mowed and trimmed because the brush had become a visual hazard for people driving around the turn. but honestly, who pays forty bucks for mowing a piece of land that isn't even a quarter of an acre? anyway my dad did some research on this and sent her copies of the land survey maps, showing clearly that the little corner was not, in fact, ours. earlier this year, someone purchased that land and they built a pasture on it. haHA in your FACE bitch!