Two completed unrelated annoyances

[Moonshadow]

Firstly, drivers. Why on earth are they so mean and unforgiving to learner drivers? Don't they realise that they were once Learners themselves? They probably had to deal with people being retarded and riding their tail pipes too, so you'd kinda figure they'd remember that when they do it to other learners.

And bleached hair? WHY? The dye jobs are horrible, you can always see the roots where they haven't had it redone yet. Is there some sort of social thing about blondes being more attractive than everyone else or something? Because a die job is a major turn off to me. Brunettes all the way!

[Froogleyboy]

Firstly, drivers. Why on earth are they so mean and unforgiving to learner drivers? Don't they realise that they were once Learners themselves? They probably had to deal with people being retarded and riding their tail pipes too, so you'd kinda figure they'd remember that when they do it to other learners. I feel you, man, I feel you


And bleached hair? WHY? The dye jobs are horrible, you can always see the roots where they haven't had it redone yet. Is there some sort of social thing about blondes being more attractive than everyone else or something? Because a die job is a major turn off to me. Brunettes all the way!

Personally, My girlfriend has bleached hair and I like it. I'm not sure why, but she looks good as a blonde

[Kobold-Bard]

1. Same logic as hazing in colleges. Everyone was a bastard to you when you were new, so now it's your turn to take your revenge on newer drivers, who will in turn tak it out on those who come after them.

People are also extremely impatient in general, and when their brain is constantly telling them that they're in a situation where if someone else screws up you are quite likely to be injured/die it leads to people being very agressive towards the greatest threat.

2. I dunno. Seriously.

[arguskos]

1. Don't ascribe malice where none exists. :smallannoyed: What it is most likely is that they just don't stop and think about it like you and I might. Most folk operate on a less "meta" level than you might assume at first blush. It's not that they're being *****, it's more that they just don't think about it and drive normally.

Oh, and by the by, that's probably a good thing. It teaches newer drivers to adapt rapidly to unfavorable conditions and what traffic is really like, both of which are valuable things to learn and know.

2. One could ask this of red hair, jet-black hair, colored contacts, skin bronzing, and a massive number of other strange things people do to their appearance. The answer? They like it, so deal with it.

I would like to register my own annoyance: individuals who act as though they are the only voice that matters in the world. :smallsigh: I just spent a fairly nice weekend with some family friends, and though I love these people, they seriously acted as though the world exists to service them. Any dissenting opinion? Shot down in a chorus of "oh that's stupid we're not doing that". UGH, I was so aggravated with that attitude.

[Another_Poet]

Actually, the two are related. Most states now issue botched bleach jobs to bad drivers. It is cheaper than making them take the driving test over again, and carries the stigma of looking like a moron. It is an easy way to identify who to stay away from on the road, too.

Really it's a win-win-lose-lose-win, where the loses are the offenders and their significant others, and the win's are you, me, and the taxpayers.

[Cobalt]

And bleached hair? WHY? The dye jobs are horrible, you can always see the roots where they haven't had it redone yet. Is there some sort of social thing about blondes being more attractive than everyone else or something? Because a die job is a major turn off to me. Brunettes all the way!

This reminds me of the dye job my sister got yesterday. She's done this so many times, I honestly don't even remember what her original hair color was.


Actually, the two are related. Most states now issue botched bleach jobs to bad drivers. It is cheaper than making them take the driving test over again, and carries the stigma of looking like a moron. It is an easy way to identify who to stay away from on the road, too.

Really it's a win-win-lose-lose-win, where the loses are the offenders and their significant others, and the win's are you, me, and the taxpayers.

wat

When did this happen? Why was I not alerted to this hilarity?

[Kallisti]

Actually, the two are related. Most states now issue botched bleach jobs to bad drivers. It is cheaper than making them take the driving test over again, and carries the stigma of looking like a moron. It is an easy way to identify who to stay away from on the road, too.

Really it's a win-win-lose-lose-win, where the loses are the offenders and their significant others, and the win's are you, me, and the taxpayers.

It's so brilliant it's stupid! I mean so stupid it's brilliant! Or maybe both...

[onthetown]

1. Yes, they were learners once, but they're much better than that now and they deserve all rights to the road because they've evolved beyond just learning.

2. I bleached my hair white once... If I didn't want my roots to grow in and show up, I had to keep bleaching it every two months. I eventually just let the roots grow in and then cut it when it was long enough, and I now have my red hair back. It's a lot of maintenance unless the person is already blond.

Yes, people who are already blond will bleach their hair. Now that is something I don't understand.

[Symmys]

In my opinion, if you're awesome enough to pull off the whole 'white hair' thing, then go for it. Unfortunately, I know very few people that awesome. :smallfrown:

[Zocelot]

1. I understand what you mean, I felt exactly like you when I began to drive. However, for the most part, drivers don't hate you because you're a beginner, they hate you because you're slowing them down by coming to a full stop at each stop sign, and not driving 10km/h over the speed limit.

2. A lot of people do look ridiculous, including all guys. I have never seen a guy with bleached hair and thought "that's pretty cool what he did with his hair". Occasionally, I will see a girl with bleached hair and think they are attractive, because of their bleached hair and not in spite of it.

[Lioness]

1. I understand what you mean, I felt exactly like you when I began to drive. However, for the most part, drivers don't hate you because you're a beginner, they hate you because you're slowing them down by coming to a full stop at each stop sign, and not driving 10km/h over the speed limit.

Or just plain not paying attention. A learner was at the front of a set of lights, and they are usually green for only a short while. Lights turned green. She stayed there. Her supervising driver was distracted, trying to find something in the back of the car. The learner sat there. Lights turned red. Unhappy no-longer-learner driver.

Maybe it's because she had bleached blonde hair.

I generally get annoyed at learners because they drive slowly. Learners and old people usually drive at least 10km/h below the speed limit.

[Salbazier]

I also annoyed by both things. But regarding the drivers, its not because they are cruel to new drivers but because they don't give a damn to pedestrians, or for that matter every other people including other drivers (Do not give people chance to cross, speeding through water that it sprays on people, horning all the times even when they only need to be patient for a second, ect) :smallannoyed:

I still found a good mannered driver sometimes, though. Amazing but they are indeed exist.:smallsigh: May God bless those people

[Totally Guy]

Driving is funny like that. It's more about how you perceive others perceiving you that matters.

If you perceive yourself as someone that other drivers are annoyed by then those thoughts are the ones you react to. You effectively build yourself a reality where people are annoyed by you all the time.

If you are in a state of mind were no one is annoyed unless they actually communicate it to you officially with a parp from the horn then you'll be much happier.

[KuReshtin]

I believe it also has to do with anticipation from people who are driving.
Learner drivers don't anticipate what other drivers will do as well as more experienced drivers will, and because of that, they tend to not drive as smoothly as experienced drivers. This can include coming up towards a red light and not slowing down in time, and then step hard on the brake when they get close to where they need to stop instead of just letting off the accelerator earlier and slow down naturally.

This isn't exclusive to learner drivers, though. I have a friend who's been driving for ages, and it's always an adventure to ride with him, to the point where it's more or less accepted as fact that if we're going somewhere, I'll drive. Always.
He doesn't have a really good sense of direction, he always seem to have a very narrow field of view, so he doesn't see other cars until they show up in his field of view and then he steps on the brake and starts yelling that other people can't drive.

I believe that I had some good advice when I started driving, mainly because I started off getting a motorcycle licence and drove a motorbike for two years before getting a car licence.
When you're on a bike, you HAVE to have the mindset that other people in traffice either won't see you at all, or that they're complete morons. more often than not, convincing yourself that they're a combination of the two helps you stay alive on a motorcycle. And I have brought that train of thought with me to my car driving as well.
A lot of car drivers think that just because they're sitting in their steel cage with airbags and seatbelts, that they're not going to get hurt.
on a motorcycle, you don't have that luxury, so you always have to be alert.

[Lillith]

I try to be patient with learner drivers, it's more the 'experienced' drivers that annoy the hell out of me. Because they're supposed to know better. Driving 30 in a 50km zone is SO annoying. Or stopping at the middle of the road because they have to make a turn, while there's a turn lane RIGHT NEXT TO THEM. Instead of using it and being out of the way of the drivers that want to go forward, they'll just stand in the middle of the road and block all traffic. Then of course they are annoyed when the driver in front of me was blowing his horn.

About the bleached hair thing, I don't know. Nowadays blonds are considered more attractive I heard, I don't know why. I don't really have a preference but I notice I like darker hair better than that platinum/white blond hair. Also over here bleached hair has a big stigma. Usually it's either the 'asocial city idiot on flipflops and wearing waaaaay too tight clothes' or the 'uppity thinks she's so great soccermom higher class b**** who feels she's so rich and better then everybody else'. I'm glad my hair color is ash. I'd never bleach it if I can help it.

[Yarram]

Some advice with dealing with other drivers as a Learner:
When on the highway, at some point, you'll be expected to merge after an overtaking zone. Due to the nature of sporadic zones, you'll usually have 5+ cars stacked behind you, who will happily force you off the road rather than sit behind you for another 4kms. found it impossible to merge with everyone else going 20km/h faster than me. It was even hard as a P plater with them only going 10km/h faster.
To counter this, just speed up, and merge 100 metres before the lane ends so no one try's to cut you off. (I don't condone breaking the law, but no policeman would ever book you for doing this.) The person immediately behind you will be forced to slow down a little, but then again, he was either the person that would have let you in anyway, or the bum who would cut you off. You may experience tailgating after this, but rather that then being forced off the road.

On bleached hair:
I agree.

[Form]

Most drivers I've met/meet on the road seem alright to me. I can't really recall ever being cut off by someone who's annoyed or them riding my tail, although a few times they honked their horns at me because I missed a green light or an oppertunity to merge.

I wish they wouldn't do that though. I know they're letting off steam because they're annoyed, but honking that horn is only going to make me more nervous and more likely to miss the next oppertunity. Which of course mean they're stuck where they are for a little longer too. I do hope I retain some of my humility as a learner driver when I finally obtain my driver's license.

No thoughts on the bleached hair though. I don't think I see much bleached hair really, but maybe I don't pay enough attention.

[Yarram]

Most drivers I've met/meet on the road seem alright to me. I can't really recall ever being cut off by someone who's annoyed or them riding my tail, although a few times they honked their horns at me because I missed a green light or an oppertunity to merge.

We're talking about Highway driving here, where the number of lanes goes from one, to two for say 1km, then back to one, forcing everyone whi wasn't able to get around the L plater to slow down again.

[Fifty-Eyed Fred]

1. Learner drivers are often, from the perspective of ordinary drivers, a threat to their safety, because they could be terrible, and you might not find that out until it's too late. Also, as someone who likes to drive speedily, it is genuinely frustrating to be stuck behind someone driving below the speed limit, which learner drivers tend to do, because they're not confident enough to drive at the speed limit yet, and have to be distracted by the ridiculous rules their instructors force upon them. You can't drive normally if you've got someone insisting that you check your mirrors every 5 seconds and generally scrutinising your driving.

However, I tend to be sympathetic to learners, because I remember how much I hated being one - it's so much easier to drive when you don't have that constant back-seat driver with you, whose instructions you have to follow. No, I loathe people who have a license and still drive terribly slowly or inconsiderately, simply because they should know better.

2. I have never even considered dying my hair, but at the same time I am not terribly skilled at discerning whether someone else is using one. I have red hair, by the way, but red hair dye is obviously not genuine hair colour - the others seem to be easier to replicate.

[rakkoon]

I have never seen a guy with bleached hair and thought "that's pretty cool what he did with his hair"

I give you
http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/druid/294/spike3.jpg

I have no problem with colouring your hair, turning blonde can be fun. The comple white white bleach thingy is indeed terrible, on any person.
(Except old peroxide head above of course)

[Phaedra]

A lot of people do look ridiculous, including all guys. I have never seen a guy with bleached hair and thought "that's pretty cool what he did with his hair".

My teenage self and her crush on Spike from Buffy begs to differ. That was cool hair.

[KuReshtin]

I dyed my hair blond-ish some years ago. It was a bet. I don't think it turned out too bad.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_7Tn9Kao9lf8/S9WQ1R24-LI/AAAAAAAAAMc/jKIRVPXncbs/s800/DSC00947.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_7Tn9Kao9lf8/S9WQ2J4LQSI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/A0rd5U7UGAI/s800/DSC00949.JPG

:biggrin:

[Form]

We're talking about Highway driving here, where the number of lanes goes from one, to two for say 1km, then back to one, forcing everyone whi wasn't able to get around the L plater to slow down again.

I've been on the highway as a learner driver, but I'v never been in a situation where the number of lanes increased and then decreased again unless it was an entry/exit lane that was added.

[KuReshtin]

Depending on which country you are in, there are different highway configurations.

In Sweden, there is a popular configuration called the 2+1 road (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2%2B1_road), where you have two lanes going one direction for a mile or a couple of miles, while the opposite direction only has one lane. After a while, the two lanes going one direction merges down into just one lane, while the other direction has two lanes.
In effect, you only ever have three lanes in total. Two going one way, one going the other.
Usually it's configured so that you have the two lanes right after an entry, where the entry lane doesn't feed into the already existing lane, but raather is the second lane until the merging of the two lanes. The distance of the 2+1 lanes is also usually determined by the distance between exits off the highway, each direction getting two lanes about half the distance between the exits.

[Ilena]

My teenage self and her crush on Spike from Buffy begs to differ. That was cool hair.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM spike .... :D I still have a crush on him :P

Also my pet peive with driving, is when people getting onto the highway go 60 -80, and dont get up to 100 kph, and i refuse to move over for people doing that, probably, well ok most definately wrong but it annoys me all to hell that when im going 100, i move over for someone going 80 and they speed up to 100 on the highway and block me from moving over again, and then people get angry that im holding up traffic because they dont know how to get onto a highway.

Otherwise im usually ok to drive, i just want people to go close to the speed limit :P Going 40 under the speed limit gets me unhappy :P

[Another_Poet]

wat

When did this happen? Why was I not alerted to this hilarity?

Um, have you not been reading my official edicts from Poet City?

All matters of fashion and traffic control are overseen by my interim government with emergency powers, and all loyal Poetines read my edicts.

You just earned a demerit, citizen.

[RandomNPC]

drivers are always annoying, even when I'm one of them.

as for the hair thing, remember when Dragon Ball Z was showing new episodes in the Freeza Saga, and Goku went super for the first time? The next day I walk into school, and there's a sea of yellow heads. Most people had their backs to the door I went in, so it was all I saw.

The urge to call them all out as wan'abees was almost strong enough to make me not care about the troubble I'd get in for yelling at the group, but in the end I figured i'm never gonna see most of them after school anyway.