SUMMERTIME, AND THE GRIPIN' IS EASY

Yeah, yeah, it's still March, I know, but if you live at a beach that gets cold in the winter, summer starts when you get that first good run of warm to hot days. No spring for us, baby, nuh-uh.

We'd rather enjoy the summer before it starts baking you where you stand.

I've got two gripes already, though. One that I've come to accept but still dislike and one that I will never, ever understand and refuse to tolerate.

Pollen. Necessary evil, true, but one of the more annoying ones. It's not so much because of allergies; I've been sneezy as of late, but I'm used to that. I hate walking outside and thinking, "Damn, that yellow car is fugly," then realizing that it's mine. I've got nothing against yellow cars, I just like the color mine used to be.

The real gripe is something much, much worse. And something that's wholly preventable.

Common courtesy is, to all civilized humans, an essential part of social interaction. We hold doors for complete strangers; we stop to help someone if they drop something; we converse jovially with cashiers, waiters, and other people we encounter who we will, most likely, see only rarely or never again.

I mean, you wouldn't see something weird like, say, a person walking alongside someone else in an effort to prevent that person from finding an entrance to a building. You would call that person an asshole or a nutjob. In fact, that scenario is pretty unlikely, as a person would tire of the asshole/nutjob's antics and either push the asshole/nutjob out of the way or find a police officer to talk a bit of sense into the asshole/nutjob.

So why have I had that exact same scenario happen to me five times in as many days? Just put the asshole/nutjob in a car and substitute "highway" for "building."

Why can't people understand the simple concept of a merging ramp on a highway? If you're in the right lane and you see cars trying to merge onto the highway from your right, move over.

Unless you're in heavy traffic or being passed on the left, if you see cars trying to merge into the lane you are currently in, move the fuck over.

This is neither brain science, nor is it rocket surgery.

I'll even admit that, sometimes, I'm not the most courteous guy. If I'm in a bad mood, I'll be a little short with people. If I have to wait for an inordinate amount of time when it shouldn't take so damn long, I'll get annoyed. And if I get attitude or bad service without provoking it, I'll get downright surly.

Face to face with other people is one thing. A car, the very act of driving, is a whole 'nother ball of shit.

People seem to forget how frighteningly dangerous automobiles can be. They just hop in the car and drive on down the road, putting on make-up, reading, carrying on in-depth conversations while looking at the passenger, or just staring off into space while people around them are trying not to die.

That's why common courtesy applies more so on the road. Being casually incourteous in your normal life might miff some people or get you an old-fashioned "down-pegging."

Being casually incourteous in your car, on the road, at speed might kill or seriously injure a number of people in horrible ways, not to mention the property damage and insurance headaches.

So, to all the assholes. Move the fuck. Please.

To calm down from the blinding rage induced by driving a mere four miles, I found this...

Bobby Brown - "On Our Own" (From "Dance! ...Ya Know It!" and "Ghostbusters II")

Say what you will about Bobby Brown now, but Bobby Brown circa 1989 was, in the parlance of James Brown, super-bad.

I'm not much on the video (they took some editing liberties with the song) but some of the random celebrity cameos are surprising. How about a young Chris Reeve?

This is one song I've never found in a karaoke bar, which is surprising. Give me a couple of people on back-up and I guarantee I could "tear the roof off the mother."

*NOTE* In the last post, I mistakenly attributed the song "Bitch School" to the Spinal Tap movie. It should be (From "Break Like the Wind"). Thanks to Dikkii for pointing it out.

I'd edit the actual post, but I seem to be having problems doing so. I'll try again later, promise.