Sign of the times

I am becoming increasingly disappointed with society at large. Let me give you a recent example.

I was driving to work, carefully obeying all traffic laws and speed limits, when I noticed that the woman driving the car in front of me was talking on her cellphone.

Sometimes this behavior bothers me, but usually only if the driver is obviously distracted from driving, which is as far as I'm concerned, the primary activity of a driver.

Anyway, idlegrass. Back to the story.

The woman pulled up to a red light, and turned on her right turn signal. So far, everything is fine. She appears to be a good driver. Now, in our state, we are allowed to make right turns on red, if the road is clear.

I looked to the left.
The road was clear.
The woman didn't move.
She continued to talk.
OK, maybe she's a cautious driver. That's OK.

I looked to the left again.
The road was still clear.
A party of octogenarians, complete with walking frames had judged that this was a safe time to cross, and were making their slow way across the road.
The woman still didn't move.
She continued to talk.
OK, this is beyond cautious. This is becoming not OK.

I looked to the left for a third time.
Sloths were making their way across the road, delighted at their good fortune in finding such a quiet place to cross. A turtle with a broken leg had just reached the other side. Children were marking up a hopscotch game in the middle of the road. This was a clear road. They don't get any clearer.
The woman still didn't attempt the turn.
Her conversation showed no signs of slowing up.
Oh, I get it! She's obviously too stupid to know the law about turning right on red!
I decided to give her a gentle reminder with my horn.

Up until this point, nothing I had observed was out of the ordinary. A driver had simply been distracted by her cellphone conversation. Nothing strange there. It was her next action that completely gobsmacked me.

She turned around in her seat, looked my in the eye, lifted up her cellphone and pointed to it, as if to say "I'm on the phone!" Apparently, this should have satisfied me. In actual fact, I was shocked at this course of action, that my first reaction was one of contrition, as though I was being rude to think that she should be driving first, and chatting second.

Well, the next thing I knew, the light turned green, and the woman drove away. I continued driving to work, and the incident was over.

By the way, if you happen to know the woman in my story, please ask her to give me a call. I'd love to chat.

Just ask her to pull over first.