I mean, I get it. I used to be one of those people, the ones glaring furiously at people trying to execute a zipper merge. I would stay as close as I could to the bumper of the person in front of me. "No way," I would mutter at the (in retrospect, much smarter) folks trying to ease traffic congestion. "You should have merged back when I did, buddy! It's not my fault you went joyriding up to the head of the line like a jerk! I'm not letting you in."
Of course, I realize now that that is exactly how one should merge - wait until the lane that is ending actually ends. Leave enough space between cars so that the two lanes of traffic can slide together seamlessly and beautifully into one shining ribbon of cars. They may still be moving slowly, but they are nonetheless moving, instead of engaging in the tedious stop-and-go that results from people like my past self refusing to budge.
Years ago, a good friend of mine gently educated me one morning when I was complaining about the people who "try to go to the head of the line and force their way in." She looked sadly at me. "But they're doing it right. If everyone stays in that lane until it ends, and the people in the next lane over leave enough space for them to slide over, it works better for everyone. Think about it for a minute." Chastened, I did, and I realized she was right.
Well, since it sounds like we're all going to have to get new driver's licenses anyway, I think we should require everyone to watch a brief informational video on zipper merging before getting their new enhanced IDs.
No comments:
Post a Comment