💾 Archived View for low-key.me › gemlog › smiling-on-the-wrongside.gmi captured on 2023-01-29 at 02:23:07. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2022-01-08)
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There are few things that tick me off and people driving on the wrong side is definitely near the top of the list. I've never thought much about traffic rules but they seem like a pretty sane bunch and remarkably simple for the complex situations they are meant for. It's not difficult to wrap one's head around "keep left" and yet I run into people driving on the wrong side every single day, for whatever reasons they might have.
Ultimately, rules are meant to serve us and not the other way around and I don't think they merit absolute obedience. With the ever ongoing construction activities in my city, driving on the wrong side is a necessity sometimes. What ticks me off is the entitlement that some people driving on the wrong side display, refusing to make way, glaring or swearing at those who are actually driving on the right side and being the cause of many personal close calls.
So imagine my surprise when I see someone driving on the wrong side who slows down and starts smiling at me sheepishly as we cross. I surprised myself by smiling back at him, almost as if we had a little conversation about rules and reality and shrugged.
Made me regret all the times I scowled when I could have smiled and while nothing about the situation would've changed, I'd have a fonder memory.
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CC0 low-key, 2021-12-28