Driving home, a point

We often define ourselves not just by who we are, but by who we aren't. We spend an inordinate amount of time seeing the other as the other and defining and redefining otherhood for ourselves so we can justify why "they" are "them" and we, thank god, are not one of them. I find this process of recrimination to be most acute while driving.

For some reason, everyone is a terrible driver except for me. But as if it weren't enough that everyone other than me is a menace to go-ciety, all those who can't drive are so clearly part of some other group that they couldn't possibly be trusted to drive well. That driver is a (insert race here) and those people can't drive. What? A (insert gender here)...and we all know about them and driving...Did you see that move? It makes sense that he would drive a (insert car model here). Geez what a jerk, of course we can expect that, since he's from (insert other state here). That guy cut me off! Figures, what with that (rag top, bumper sticker, dent, color of hubcaps, toupee)

I think that it is about time that we came to terms with this tendency to label and exclude people. We need to find ways to bring us together and if we want to assume that people are por drivers, we can do so by looking at them as individual poor drivers and not representatives of any group of poor drivers. And to simplify things, why don't you all just get the hell out of my way?