Volume 2 No. 6

Use Ya Blinkah!

In case you hadn’t noticed, I have a lot of opinions about people’s driving habits. I can’t help it. I spend a lot of time in my fire engine red Prius going from place to place …saving gas (i.e. money)! I have often contemplated taking the time to calculate how much gas I am saving by driving a plug-in hybrid (averaging 80 miles per gallon over the years) as opposed to driving a “normal” car, but I have yet to do it. I try to tell myself I am helping save the planet by burning less fuel, but it doesn’t hurt that I am saving money too! This means more to me due to the nature of my jobs, which involve a lot of driving. (Have you noticed, I am using the words “a lot”, a lot?) The less I spend on gas, the more I net from working.

My work as a retail merchandiser for a bunch of different companies, involves a lot (again!) of travel to make it worthwhile. Each visit doesn’t pay that much but, if I string enough of them together in a reasonably compact geographic area, it makes more economic sense. Some jobs pay for mileage and/or travel time. Some just pay a pre-determined rate for the job, but it rarely takes me as long as they pay me for. Ca-Ching! But the clincher is that I love the freedom of driving around, often in areas I am not familiar with, seeing the sights and getting paid for it! I take pride in the quality of my work with the perks of setting my own schedule and no one looking over my shoulder questioning my decisions throughout the day. I may not be getting rich but, I’m still helping pay the bills (at my age!) and usually come home happy with what I’ve accomplished. Goals attained. Nothing to sneeze at!

Unfortunately, driving is not always full of the joy I alluded to previously. Like anything else, I have to take the bad with the good. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t get cranky about the things I see. I could go on and on (and WILL in upcoming pieces) but one thing that really gets on my nerves is people who don’t use their “blinkahs”. You have to keep in mind that once you live in the Greater Boston Area, you have to 1) have your daily dose of Dunkin’ and 2) become familiar with the way people express themselves!

I could have titled this piece “Please Facilitate the Flow of Traffic by Using Your Directional Indicator” but, you have to admit “Use ya Blinkah” has a lot more flair. The worst offenders are those who don’t use them at all. Don’t they realize it is just plain common courtesy to give people around you a head’s up about what your plans are down the road? In addition to being the law, why would you not expend that little bit of energy to flick that arm on your steering column when you are anticipating an upcoming turn? At the risk of carrying this one step too far, I feel like this behavior (or lack of behavior) is a reflection of our ever-expanding “What’s in it for me?” attitude toward societal norms. “Using my turn signal has no immediate benefit for me, why should I bother?” “No one is going to thank me if I DO use my signal.” “I know where I am going, they will figure it out soon enough, right?”

There is so much more I have to say about turn signal usage. Some of it may seem a little on the “picky” side, but it is all reflective of how much (or how little) we care about the other people we share the road with. (Again, more to come) It’s the little things like this that can add up to a better life for everybody. Give it a try! It couldn’t hurt!

P.S. I proudly display a bumper sticker that says “Use Ya Blinkah”.

P.P.S. To all of you editorial inclined folks out there: Yes, I know I have ended a number of sentences with a preposition. Oh the shame! In my defense, the right way sounds so stilted, I just can’t write that way.