It Was Nice While It Lasted

For about a week following the initial shock of $4+/gallon gasoline there was some semblance of sane driving around Las Vegas. You didn’t see as many jackrabbit starts and the majority of vehicles were actually obeying the speed limit. Outright aggressive hostility (road rage), however, seems to be the next stage of motorists’ grieving. Particularly the drivers of behemoths (I heard one report on NPR this morning that his Ford Excursion gets 8-10 mpg if he nurses it) now seem to have adopted the insane tactics of Indy 500 drivers as their way of coping with their painfully obvious idiocy. I won’t be surprised to see our Prius become the target of their anger as these fossil-fueled Neanderthals decide to take everyone and everything down with them. Again, let’s hear it for legalistic Las Vegas! The cops keep sounding off about how they’re going to crack down on aggressive drivers, but that turns out to be nothing more than the pot calling the kettle black. I promise to promptly report the next time I see a squad car come to a complete stop, park legally, or drive the speed limit. Having once been one, I know how easy it is for law enforcement to think itself above the law. I fear that this is the specter of things to come as lust and greed transform into angry aggression when selfish needs can’t be satisfied. Next up: the food shortage.