Cowardice Speeders

Firstly, I know its cliche to complain about how poor Utah drivers are.  Fortunately/unfortunately my limit on chicken shit Utah speeders was reached this week and its my turn to vent.

Its rare that a Monday morning commute raises my ire, but somehow this one was special.  I was comfortably settled into This American Life Podcast, #104 Music Lessons and clicked on the cruise control set at the double nickle as I entered Legacy Highway, then felt a little rebellious and notched it up to 60, keeping the RPMs in the 2300-2400 range.  Incidentally that coincides with a solid 37 MPG.

The first story on #104 is how a parent, a dedicated, non-instrument playing, big dreaming Jazz lover tries to convey the importance of music to his offspring had me captive. I was thinking through how much live music and how many local musicians we expose our kids to and it has me constantly wondering if they truly appreciate the life experiences we provide for them.  As I lingered over the similarities of this story to my real life, I noticed a Ford F-150 hauling what I estimate a good 5-10 miles per hour faster than me. Since it’s Monday, I am in no hurry and enjoying my commute. I pull over to the right letting the F-150 pass only to watch this douche bag suddenly slow his trajectory to a scant 1-2 mph faster than me.

While it only irritated me because I hate chicken shit speeders, it really annoyed me off watching the lemmings following just back enough to not appear to be with the F-150, and not brave enough to try and over take him.

You are either a leader or a follower when it comes to the commute.  Chickening out because you do not have someone faster to follow, a notch faster to take the bullet if there is a speed trap ahead does not a leader make. 

The sweet irony of this commute was watching the timid wanna-be hero dumb ass overtaken by those of us on the right who lazily let our synchronized cruise control mark a faster pace and a steady stream that painfully prevented them from switching lanes.

rant utah