I Really, Strongly Dislike People

Big surprise in that title, yes? I suppose there might be some out there who desire a bit of clarification.

There seems to be special brand of stupid in the Spokane air, lately. In the past thirty hours I have been in no fewer than eight near-miss accidents. They seem to occur in pairs. And parking lots seem to be a major contributing factor.

Yesterday: Whilst pulling in to the campus parking lot, I was required to merge from my access point into a sort of arterial (if such a thing exists) for the lot. More appropriately, others were required to merge with my traffic flow. I reason thusly: The other guys have a yield sign, whereas I do not. Two consecutive drivers decided that said yield sign must apply to everyone but them. They breeze on through without even slowing down. In the space of about two seconds I almost hit two cars. Fun.

After class yesterday: I was walking to my car and almost run down by someone who decided doing 40+ in a parking lot would be a good idea. After changing my underwear and getting in my car, a different person decided the previous driver had stumbled upon the greatest of all ideas. Exceeding 40 mph in a parking lot was a grand plan, worthy of emulation. After stopping short to avoid this higher-education cannonball, I was nervously on my way home.

Last night: I had to pick my sister up from an appointment of some sort. I don't recall what. Driving up Division (first mistake, I realize) exposed my flank to a pair of drivers who must have determined that exiting the fast food drive-through gave them right-of way.

This morning: It was a carbon-copy repeat of yesterday morning. What the hell? These people are college students, so it should be safe to assume they know how to read--at least at a basic (it was so tempting to use "fundamental" here) level. If they can't read, I would hope they have a basic understanding of shape recognition.

To my great relief, no collisions occurred. Though not for lack of opportunity.

Maybe I'm giving people too much credit with even the basic assumptions of competence. Perhaps it is safer to assume every other person, especially every other driver, has the intelligence of a carrot.