No, Driving Up My Tailpipe Won't Make Me Go Faster
New York Times business travel columnist Joe Sharkey writes about Mika Larson's answer to assholes on four wheels -- one I've considered myself:
On her Web site, Roadrage.com, Ms. Larson markets an alternative — a spiral-bound book of 8- by 11-inch cards carrying 43 messages in bold letters ($19.99). On the flip side of each card, the message is printed in reverse image so it can be read in a rearview mirror.Warning to readers who might scurry to this Web site. Some of the messages contain very bad words. (You know the words). Most, however, are merely insulting or insinuating, like "The gas pedal is on the right" and "Stop tailgating." Others are more blunt: "Get out of the fast lane, moron!"
Others are extreme and arguably provocative, like this one, aimed at drivers who weave around while applying makeup, combing hair or tying a necktie: "You're still ugly."
Ms. Larson, who sounds like a nice person cursed with a wicked sense of humor, says she never uses the more extreme texts. "Not for me, no," she said.
"I'm a pretty good driver myself, and I just got tired of driving around and seeing horrible drivers making annoying or stupid mistakes," she said, adding: "I used to yell out the window quite a bit at these people, but then I realized that's ridiculous, they're not getting the message and I'm just getting angry and upset. So one day, I wrote down on a piece of paper, 'What's wrong with your blinker?' People laughed and waved."
...Ms. Larson's Web site prudently contains cautionary advice about using the flip cards, which, a disclaimer says "are intended solely for entertainment purposes." Actual use on the road "is at your sole risk and is not recommended," it says. Incautious use, the disclaimer goes on, "may give rise to physical or verbal retaliation, which may result in injury or death."
Death? As I said, I don't like those odds. Just let it go.
My approach, so far, has been immortalizing the mobile assclowns on my blog.
Leave a comment