I Just Gotta Rant!!!

So there have been so many annoying things that have happened in my town this week that it is time for an Andrea rant.

So this week has been the week for auto collisions. On Wednesday there was a school bus vs. Dodge neon accident. First off, no kids on the bus at the time of the accident. But, how do you miss a ginormous yellow school bus when leaving a stop sign? Are you really in that much of a hurry that you think you can beat a school bus through the intersection? Also on Wednesday was a semi vs. train accident in Shelley, a town about 45 minutes from here. I really don’t know much about this one, but, if a train is coming, STOP!!!! The final incident on Wednesday was an intoxicated driver who took out 3 parked cars. Again, call a cab! One good thing, Sammee vowed to me again that she will NEVER drink and drive.

Yesterday, a pedestrian in a wheelchair was hit by a car crossing the street by the University. Then, right in front of the high school downtown, a truck was turning left and hit a car going straight through the intersection. A fender bender was bad enough, but the driver of the car jumped out with a baseball bat, smashed the passenger’s window of the truck and then chased the driver of the truck with the bat. This happened just after school got out. So the driver was cited for failure to yield and the wacko was arrested for assault. My question is….when in the hell did we become so angry and so quick to fight, sue, etc? What has happened to our society?

Today, as I was driving to pick up Kat from school, again, by the University, I stopped for a pedestrian at a crosswalk. She was almost hit not by one but by two cars zipping by in the left lane after I had stopped. One even changed lanes when he got to the stopped cars. Are we really in that much of a hurry that we can’t slow down for 12 seconds while someone crosses the street? And one person was yakking away on her phone! For God’s sake people, hang up and drive! Then, on the way home, again by the University, we almost witnessed an accident because of someone stopping for a pedestrian. Again!

As a society, we have become selfish, hurried people with no regard for others. We park in handicap parking spaces because they are open, and, we will only be a couple of minutes. We jump into the only open parking space at Wal-Mart ahead of the young mother with 3 small children so she has to walk from the North 40 with her brood. We gripe when the elderly couple in front of us at the checkout is moving slowly. We honk at the car in front of us if they don’t jump the second the light turns green. Very few people say please and thank you anymore. We don’t tip our waiters, waitresses, pizza delivery drivers or hairdressers.

And, it doesn’t stop in the outside world. We bring it into our work places, homes, and even our places of worship. We back stab co-workers to get ahead, and gossip about them to make ourselves look better. We treat our family like dirt. And, if the pastor/bishop/rabbi, etc., says something to tick us off, we hold our tithe out of spite. Or if we have a conflict with someone at the church, whether leadership or another member, we leave in a huff and talk to everyone but the person who wronged us about how hurt we are. Or we gossip about the family who is struggling with something so we feel better about our shortcomings.

This society is going to Hell in a handbasket! We need to do something NOW to fix this! I for one will stop at crosswalks, be more patient in lines and red lights, think before I talk about someone behind their backs, and mind my manners. I will be doing my part. What will you do?