or People are rude. or I'm getting older and impatient. There are so many drivers on the road -- it's rush hour traffic 25 / 8 in Houston. I was behind someone in the turning lane who decided, when the light turned green, to drive up to the turn and then stop briefly to determine if he really wanted to turn. While I waited patiently in line for service, two customers decided to cut in line. What does the clerk behind the counter do? She waited on the two customers, one after the other. Why do Houston drivers feel the need to tailgate??!! At first, I thought I had anger management issues...and maybe I do, but I think there are just more rude people in the world.
When people try to cut me I tell them where the end of the line is, and then they go there. Don't be a cha-cha and let people cut! As for stopping/yielding before making a turn, I do too sometimes because people run red lights! Cry baby
At night I driver around with a HID spotlight and if anyone tailgates me I slow down and make them pass then aim the spotlight right at their rearview mirror.
It's often referred to in heavily urbanized cities around the world as 'crowd behavior'. Basically, as more and more people are 'clustered' into the same amount of space, people have less personal space, bump into each other more often, and as a result the odds of 'aggressive behavior' and even conflict are higher. It's probably why NYC residents are viewed as more 'hostile' or 'unfriendly' than the rest of the nation. It's also one of the reasons some urban planners prefer more decentralization -- or the lack of an 'urban center' -- than a city where everything is centralized in one location, or 'center'. For instance, the Dallas/Ft. Worth area always struck me as much more decentralized than Houston is. While Houston has that too (Katy, Sugar Land), it's much more of a centralized urban setting with almost everything that matters being inside the loop area, especially jobs, entertainment venues and the like. Of course, there is a practical problem with decentralization: limited space. The Europeans and the Japanese know all about it, everything there is 'small' compared to what Americans are used to. Also, most of the economy of the developing world relies on major cities that everything and everyone gravitates to; it's almost like a magnetic force that sucks everyone in (e.g. Mexico City, Cairo, etc).
The people cutting in line thing doesn't really bother me. It might just add a few extra minutes to whatever I'm doing. I just assume those people are really pressed for time or don't have a clue what's going on. Usually other people will speak up, but if they don't I don't get too upset over small things like that. The only time I get a little perturbed is in the car if someone executes a really dangerous car maneuver like turning from the wrong lane, or not turning when you are supposed to, or not using the turn signal while turning when someone is close by. Drivers doing that can cause accidents. I always thought Houston's population was 4 Million, but according to that Kiplinger report it said Houston was now 5.5 Million and that's probably not including the illegal/undocumented people out there as well.
yeah, except the Japanese and European citygoers are much more understanding of crowd dynamics, use alternative methods to mitigate traffic, and have less work-stress that might contribute to road rage. not to mention the Japanese are unerringly polite.
You just now figured that out? Man, that was a factor when I was deciding whether to move to Austin. The traffic was nothing like Houston's, the drivers weren't as rude, and the commutes not nearly as long. That still holds true today, although Austin is much worse than it was in 1980. It's stressful to drive around Houston, at least for me. Every time we visit, I feel like I'm under assault by insane drivers running amok. Good luck! Don't move to Austin!!!
There's no way Houston's traffic is worse than Austin's...I-35 is absolutely terrible. At least the freeways in Houston are wide enough to let you drive at a decent speed during rush hour (ie: 59)
I concur. I used to get mad at the city and vow to never return, but school sorta took it out of my hands. Nowadays I'm much better buffered against the peculiarities of Houston. The way to do it is to view Houston as not part of America but rather a third-world city, because that's almost what it is. When you drive in other parts of America people queue nicely when a lane is closed on the road and get upset if someone honks or flashes their high beams. In Houston, you cannot expect this sort of courtesy and must just react to the reality of the situation. Don't get angry when people cut in the lane being closed off on the road, just don't expect people to wait neatly behind you either. Use your horn and lights as if you were in Caracas or Taipei and never maliciously. It's a very effective method for communication in a world where people have no time, money, or education to establish rules of propriety on the matter. Decency is a double-edged sword, and like powdered wigs in the 17th century the way it is defined will be completely different in half a century than it is now. There will always be people to obstruct your path in life; the key is to empathize with their circumstances and motivations, figure out how to get around/avoid them without hatred, and forget about them as soon as you're past.
i think i learned in school that japanese people have a different concept of personal space than americans.
though it doesn't say in the article, the 5.5 number is houston, and the surrounding areas. we are still less than 3 million total, for the city itself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_metropolitan_area http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population
Hmm, get back to me in six months when I start med school myself. For the most part I'd like to meet a handful of medical students who have some perspective and balance in their lives, but I got my high school friends and bluegrass circle to fall back upon if that doesn't work out. Are you going to school in Houston, and what year are you?
