One Pet Peeve

There are not too many things that bug me. I can usually laugh at a detour, a missing page in a book, a canceled appointment. In the cosmic scheme of things I view changes like these as quirks of life, in some cases unnecessary but inevitable.

However every time I drive behind a truck I see a sign that makes me kind of mad. Posted on the lower part of the door is the sign, “This truck makes wide right turns.”

As if posting a sign makes it a legal maneuver.

If I were to make a wide right turn, crossing the lane line, I could be pulled over by a friendly officer and given a ticket. Even if I posted a sign on my back bumper reading, “This car makes wide right turns and may carry toxic waste and the driver carries nothing larger than a ten.” Still illegal.

Perhaps if I posted this additional message, “This car pays $400 in road taxes per year,” although this is small change compared to what companies pay to keep their trucks on the road.

Yet it doesn’t seem fair. I spent several weeks in high school driver’s education learning to stay within my lane. It seemed important at the time.

That’s what I’m thinking about.