Have you ever noticed
that everybody driving slower than you is an idiot, while everybody driving
faster than you is a maniac?
(He probably said it first, but I swear I didn’t copy. I
expect a few other people have thought precisely the same thing down the years,
which doesn’t necessarily prove the existence of universal consciousness. But it might.)
I remember that winter night about ten years ago. I’d been
to work in the city but had to take a detour to Ashbourne on the way back.
Heavy snow had been falling most of the day and was still falling as I
approached the steep hill coming back out of the town. It was dark, the snow
was thick on the road, and visibility was restricted by the blizzard.
I always took a run at that hill (and still do) because the
old cars I drove (and still do) lost around 15mph on the climb, and the night
in question was no exception. I began the ascent at about 70mph.
Problem: there was an idiot going slower than me a little
way ahead, and I didn’t want to settle in behind him for fear that the car might
start slipping and sliding and I wouldn’t make it home. So what could I do but
keep my foot on the gas, move out into the middle lane and overtake him? And
that’s what I did.
I’ve little doubt that the idiot regarded the term ‘maniac’
an understatement in the circumstances, but I made it home.
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