i had a revelation the other day while driving to work. i do a lot of life pondering while driving. i have a 40 minute commute and i'm pensive by nature. this absolutely is the reason a lot of my lyrics have allusions to driving (see: whiteout, behind the wheel).
anyway, i ended up getting baited into one of my teach-this-guy-a-lesson moods because someone violated some personal driving etiquette rule of mine. so, of course, applying vigilante road justice, i... obnoxiously tail-gated him for a little while. i know what you're thinking - "oh no he didn't!" - oh yes i did. it always seems that anything you do on the road out of anger end up being so insignificant, silly, and/or indefensible in retrospect. anyway, here's the conclusion i came to about my life:
i would rather accidentally be nice to someone who didn't deserve it than accidentally be a dick to someone who didn't deserve it.
let's say that i'm driving on the highway in moderate traffic and a lane has to merge. so, of course, i dutifully move over as soon as i see signs indicating this. then, a vehicle behind me continues driving in the soon-to-be-defunct lane and is apparently going to cut in front of several cars in this fashion. i have a choice now on how to react. i can treat them as if they are intentionally trying to pass everyone as a result of their belief that their time is more important than the time of those that they are passing OR i can treat them as if there's a chance there's a legitimate (or at least semi-legit) reason for their actions. maybe it's some hot-shot lawyer who wins settlements for the people that slip on the floor at mcdonald's and he's not about to allow mere civilians slow him down. or maybe it's a mom with 3 screaming kids in the back who's having the 8th worst day of her life who is so stressed out that she didn't even see the road signs.
i guess i'm saying i'd rather risk letting the hot-shot think his behavior is acceptable in society than risk turning the mom's day from 8th worst to 7th.
as the old adage goes: you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. although, i can't imagine anyone that's trying to catch flies thinking that vinegar would be a good route. and actually, why are we trying to attract flies in the first place here? what is the analogy supposed to be even? if i understand this right, i think we're comparing potential friends to annoying house pests. i'll be honest, i don't even want to be friends with annoying pests, so i'd in fact prefer to use vinegar for them. and truthfully, wouldn't the best thing for attracting flies be... like.. poop? i guess if i'm ever in a pessimistic mood and someone snarkily hits me with "you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar, you know", i'll just come back at them with "actually, ideally you would want to use a pile of poop. or maybe a dead animal." and that'll end that conversation nice and quick.
