Road Rage Comes to the Pacific Northwest
Is it just me or has every driver in Seattle gotten angry in the last month? The stereotypical Seattle driver drives 5 miles below the speed limit, stops for any pedestrian in a 2 mile radius, and will come to a complete stop on the interstate just to let you merge in front of them.
Now there is some weird sort of yuppie gang battle between bikers and Subaru drivers. It started with a gang of bikers surrounding a Subaru who then ran one over only to watch his tires get punctured and holes get smashed into his car. [article and article]
Portland seems to have a full blown petal vs metal war going on. They even got written up in Newsweek for it. You've probably seen the crazy video of the bicyclist clinging to the roof of the car as it screams down the street.
Clearly both sides are to blame in these altercations, but why does it start to begin with? I'm convinced that road rage is very similar to the crazy stuff you read in internet forums. People think they are anonymous. They are surrounded by metal (or by teh interetz) and don't feel as responsible for their actions as they would in a face to face confrontation.
There's so much to stress about in this world already. Do you really need to get worked up in traffic? Everybody together now, rub your earlobes with your fingers and slowly chant "wooosaaaahhhhhh."