Driving

[markolas]

I hate, hate, hate driving. It's mainly my dad's fault, as he's the one who taught me; he would start screaming at me to slow down if there was a car stopped a mile in front of me. It turned me into a very nervous driver. I didn't even get my license until I was 20.

I especially can't stand driving downtown...lots of pedestrians make me nervous, as do narrow streets and cramped parking. I'm better on the freeway, where there are nice, wide lanes and lots of space between me and other cars. I'm generally very cautious...I slow down at yellow lights (which makes people maaaaaaaaad) and never drive more than about 5 miles over the speed limit, unless I'm on a freeway and need to keep up with the flow of traffic. I've been in one accident (I slid into the back of a woman in her SUV) and have never had any tickets.

I'm not as road-ragey as I used to be...I used to be bad about honking my horn and shooting people the bird if they were being assholish (not letting me over and forcing me to exit when I didn't want to is a big thing that pisses me off). I don't do that so much anymore, but I dunno if it's because there just has been cause to lately, or if I'm actually a calmer person.

And I cannot drive a stick shift. I guess I'm just not coordinated or something, but I don't get it. I can never get more than a few feet before the car stalls, and I know that if I ever got out on the freeway in a stick shift, I'd be street pizza.

I'd love to be able to live and work downtown and not have a car at all. I especially hate the upkeep. My inspection and registration stickers have been expired since last summer.