Yesterday, I rode my motorcycle down to Portland for the day to visit family (and shop for books at Powell's). I had a great time, met my K00L nephew for the first time (and got some great information from his sister about dragons).
I realized later that I REALLY like the people in Portland. And that Washington drivers are the worst people in the world.
I think what I liked about Portland is that people seemed to be making an effort to be nice. From riding around to wandering through Powell's bookshelves, even when people were kind of blundering along, they weren't being dicks about it. Even the homeless people were polite and friendly. In Washington state, people seem to be in their own little bubble. Most of the drivers seemed downright courteous.
But as soon as I reentered Washington state, the driving went to crap. There were traffic slowdowns where there shouldn't have been, caused by the simple fact that everyone was crowding into the fast lane, which then went the same speed as the slow lane. Rolling roadblocks were created out of simple, needless stupidity. You can be behind somebody who is the one slowing down the fast lane, flashing your brights and honking and it doesn't matter.Because they Just Don't Care.
Mind you, this started happening out in the boondocks before I got to the high traffic areas. Later, as I neared the end of my ride home, there were some last bits of annoying self absorption to deal with:
Mister "In my culture we don't have to watch out for smaller vehicles"
The driver who I initially thought wouldn't let me merge just to be a jerk. Later, I decided that she was completely unconscious of other drivers and vehicles, unaware that my lane needed to merge in with hers. Yeah, she got to deal with my high beams in her rear view mirror for a couple miles.
Washington drivers ARE the worst.
P.S. And than you road construction guys for having surprise graded pavement on an exit curve for motorcycles to discover in the dark.
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