Thursday, June 26, 2008

Avoid At All Costs

A year's worth of highway commuting has taught me some fairly consistent lessons. There are several genres of vehicles/drivers that should be avoided at all costs. If you see any of said vehicles in your vicinity, slow to the speed limit, let them pass you, say a convoluted curse (in language of your choice) and spit symbolically into your palm. In no particular order.

1. Any middle aged white man in a BMW. Added bonus if he has New Jersey plates.
2. Teenagers in souped up pieces of shit who take sport in weaving between lanes.
3. Corporate types with blackberries perched on steering wheel who furiously text while changing lanes.
4. Landscaping service flatbed trucks with a lawnmower, garden tools, a wooden ladder and loose piles of refuse confined with flimsy twine.
5. Hummers. Those cars scare the shit out of me.
6. New versions of 1960s Mustangs that are souped up to look like a Shelby or a Cobra. Extra points if they feature the double spoiler.
7. Why are school buses on the freeway?
8. Sedans with eight people in it and a "baby on board" sign. Oh Christ--where IS the baby in all that mire of humanity?
9. A fish truck with the slogan "Meat Without Feet."
10. The scariest vehicle on the road? The Fung Wah bus. Yes, you can travel from Boston to Manhattan for $2, but you take your life in your hands if you do so. Those brothers are fucking crazy.

4 comments:

Karen said...

All that and one more... Connecticut Shellfish trucks, watch out.. those guys are wired. I swear I have seen them on 2 wheels around curves, must be the smell.

Anonymous said...

.. and watch out for the Zen-man sleep-driving after a long-ass day at work. :-)

Anonymous said...

By the way, if you ever go to Shanghai you should be really scared! Drivers there are NUTS!!.. I've never seen anything like that. That's probably where Fung Wah drivers are from...

We Are Never Full said...

this list is HILARIOUS. i think you have to live in the NYC metro-area to get it!

#10 is my favorite. the first time i took that bus to boston was when it first started about 8 years ago. the bathroom on the bus was broken and i had to pee. i had to attempt to make it up the aisle w/o falling to ask the driver if we were going to stop. i think he yelled "NO!!" at me while attempting to keep at a nice, easy 120 miles per hour. it was like Speed 3.

i think the day after this post is when the fung wah bus slammed into some truck and like ended up in a building? maybe i made that up...