Complaining Is So Easy To Do

Even though this is supposed to be a very happy time in my life (it is) - we have been welcoming our new daughter into this world this week - my drive into work tonight has made me finally want to complain about the drivers in New Jersey. We moved a little less than a year ago, and I've been trying to see if I was just being a stuck-up New Yorker having problems with transitioning to the suburbs. However, I really don't think that's it. Why, does it seem, that no one understands the concept of "the passing lane" in New Jersey? People mosey along in the left lane driving at 40 mph in a 55 mph zone. Then, they get mad if you want them to move over so you can keep going. Driving slow is what the right lane is for. These people need to move over. Another thing that really bugs me is that no one seems to know how to merge. I've seen people come to a complete stop in the center lane so that they could merge into either the right or left lanes. Screw the flow of traffic - they just stop. And it's not a gradual slowing down - it's 40 mph to zero in no time flat. On my route home, you could not imagine the number of rear end collisions due to this phenomenon. I could keep going on but I have to get to work.
All I know is that I've lived in New York City and Boston (owning a car in both) and have driven in Italy, Spain, Puerto Rico and Mexico and New Jersey has had some of the worst driving I have ever seen. I always thought it was a stereotype created by New Yorkers, but now I'm really not too sure about that.