The Battle

There is a battle going on right... 'NO DON'T'... now... a civil war... in the streets... 'REALLY!?'... every day... 'REALLY!!'... everywhere... there are no bystanders... we are all involved... 'FOR CRYIN' OUT...'... it divides... embitters... destroys... and we can't... 'ARE YOU KIDDING ME!'... avoid... we can't... 'NO!!'... escape... we're right in the middle... 'GO'... all the time... 'GO!'... this very instant... 'GO ALREADY!'.. and we fight... wherever we can... whenever we can... but no matter how hard the battle will always be there... the enemy is always behind... ... 'STUPID STUPID'... we get hurt... oh sure, we play the victim really well... `HELLO?'... but sometimes... 'UH OH`... we're behind... we're the enemy... HAHA!... we play the game... `SUCKER`... and in this game there are no winners... 'SEE YA!'... only losers...
... and that terrible battle is... 'DON'T DO IT!'... traffic... those who cut people off and those who don't... those people that bend the rules... those people that use others good will to go as far ahead as they can in the dead end lane and mer-BUTT IN the very last second... and it's a big deal... DIDN'T EVEN SIGNAL... it's a measuring rod... ARE YOU TURNING OR NOT?... it sets the tone for an entire city... because it's that transition from home to work, work to home, that sets up how you'll be when you get there... COULD YOU DRIVE ANY SLOWER?... that interlude stress... carries over to work... TURN ALREADY... tags along at home... URGH PEDESTRIAN... breeds more stress... THERE'S ROOM`... builds on itself... `GO!!!`... builds the almighty power of Vigo... to rule us all... Ghostbusters II?... no?... NO!?
... Here is the story... Here is everyone's story... except for maybe Gandhi and Phil Jackson...
... Some swerving cell-phone-talk with an I HEART JT sticker on the side swoops across 3 lanes to stop in the far right lane at a red light seconds later... cuts off your small right turn... Some Abercrombie speeds up beside you the second you signal to change into his lane... The jerk... turning left turning lane up ahead means every suit late for work wants to merge over and get around, so you trail just behind their back tire in the middle lane; follow uncomfortably close to the car in your own lane; don't give any of the cars a chance to merge; and they have to stop and wait for the left turning car to get a yellow light and scurry on through the wall of traffic... see those guys stuck behind Mr Left Lane Turn... watch the line of middle lane cars sail on by... get angrier each car that passes... and carry it over... another jerk... to someone else... another suit... another text... and spread the fire around...
... But find that city... find that hero... that one person kind enough to let you in... patient enough to allow a merge... giving up the odd yellow light to red so the guy that just pulled doesn't have to wait another 10 minutes... but catching up at the next red light anyways... a man among men... a lady of ladies... the stress level and animosity in the place... zoom... way down... makes you want to spread around a little love...
... New York lost this battle a long time ago... Charleston in all seriousness plays host to accidents daily because of it (and coupled with the road design makes me wonder if it isn't a strategy for the city to make money)... Vancouver is surprisingly good... but with the pace that Canada seems to be copying everything in the US from banks, to health care, down to its immigration policy... and with 10,000 new cars on the road in 2 years... it's only a matter of time till we move past the catatonic threshold... Vigo will rule... and I'll be stuck punching my steering wheel...