RECIPES

Thursday 18 February 2021

Patience is a Virtue

 

Patience is something many of us need to have more of, especially when out driving on the road. 

Every day, we see too many drivers picking the fastest moving lane and then pushing their way into the lane they actually need to be in.  They seem to think that just by turning their indicator on, they have automatic right to pull over.  


I saw these wind-swept clouds yesterday morning

In the last couple of days, I’ve been caught up in some awkward traffic situations, and it still surprises me how grumpy and impatient people can get when they can’t speed along as usual.

Faulty traffic lights that let through 1-2 cars before turning red again have resulted in long long queues of vehicles sitting in the hot sun.  And so, what happens?

One car runs an orange light and another car takes off from a green without looking – with the end result being one nasty crash.  As we negotiated our way through all the police cars and ambulance, there were people who were stopping to ‘rubber-neck’ and others who seemed to think there was no reason why they should try and slow down a bit.


Sitting beneath this tree would've been nicer than sitting in traffic

I collected grand-daughter from school this afternoon and we ended up in another queue.  We were still moving, and it was quite comfortable until we suddenly realised there was a car right beside us trying to sneak through (and I mean, RIGHT beside us – we could easily have touched him out the window).  He pulled in behind us again when he realised there was a car parked up ahead. 

Actually, there were several cars parked up ahead and a schoolboy was sitting on the grass beside his mangled bicycle, so obviously that had been an accident as well.

Our weather has been quite summery but the other day we had light drizzle all day.  I’m aware of light rain on dry roads causing slippery situations, but got an awful fright when I went to take off from a round-about (just a normal take-off, I wasn’t speeding) and I suddenly was sitting in the one place with this awful noise and lots of smoke.  I think it would have made a boy-racer happy, but all I could think about was my poor tyres!

Be patient everyone 😊

Margaret.





20 comments:

  1. When she moved to UK F was a bit afraid to drive in cities and on crowded motorways. Once she realized that only a tiny percentage of all those cars were driven by a***s she realized that New Zealanders are probably the worst, least considerate, and most impatient drivers in the bits of world she has visited. Certainly least considerate. What is it about cars that turns laid back people into raging monsters? My feline approach is to sit on the parcel shelf and watch the driver behind. xxx Mr T

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  2. Oh, yes, I sadly read you. Crazy how some flip.
    Once I had fun "teaching" one not to!
    It was in Australia and I have but a German license. He came close, flashing light, honking - I will not drive faster than allowed!!! He finally overtook and went in so close if I hadn´t braked I would´ve ... HE would´ve hit me, which, pffft, we had a bull bar!
    Next set of lights on red. I went close (huge 4-wheeler). He tried to go on,I went close... and so on and when he saw, huuuhhhh, "woman driving" he really panicked - I had my fun.
    REckon he will not do that again for a while.
    But here, same. 16 years of driving every working day 40km one way have dried me out on this.

    We could all play nice, couldn´t we?

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  3. When we went to town the other day the queue was several kms. long due to a faulty traffic light. Luckily no accident.

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  4. Those impatient drivers are found all over the world! Thank goodness we live in a place with so few and narrow roads it's hard to go over snail pace, though some, usually young guys, try to drive far too fast.
    Drive carefully to that beautiful beach, sit under that tree and take some deep breaths....and eat a honey pokey ice-cream 😁

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  5. Driving is no longer fun as it was, too many people want to be front of all the cars, and take risk to get there. I still drive but have not been anywhere too far from our home in the last year, bad drivers are the same everywhere.

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  6. We are still gripped by COVID lockdowns and restrictions on movement away from home, so there are considerably less cars on the road. Maybe that's a good thing! Once it's back to normal, however, idiocy will rise again!

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  7. We have some impatient drivers on this island too. Every time we venture forth, we expect a close call. People drive too fast for one thing and pass where they shouldn’t. Everyone is in such a rush.

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  8. Oh, we have the same problem with traffic. And I hate it...

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  9. Being impatient in a car, is one of the worst places, to be thus. That is a monster, we are sitting in. Capable of much damage. Common sense.

    Ahhh, but common sense is not all that common...

    Gentle hugs, 🌹

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  10. So true!! Some people are so impatient while driving and can be the nicest people when not behind the wheel.
    ONE reason it is nice living up in the woods is that there is hardly any traffic at all!
    Love those wispy clouds.

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  11. A sign of the times I guess. In town in the summer we have idiot tourists. We live so far in the boonies that when we see another car it is usually a relative:)

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  12. It happens here in Canada too. Everywhere I suppose. A STOP sign doesn't always mean stop. And please indicate when turning left or right. I try to keep my wits about me, forwards, at the back and at both sides, just on the lookout for idiots.

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  13. The traffic is so heavy and hectic here that I hesitate to drive. When I do I stick to side streets and avoid the main street.
    I'm glad you got home unscathed!

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  14. That's exactly why we moved out of Tauranga, everyone was always in a hurry, we'd do the speed limit or just over and people would still tailgate us, use to really annoy me. Now that we are up in the far north we just don't have that anymore, it's nice.

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  15. I love those clouds. We all need to practice our patience!

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  16. Yes, I know what you mean about impatient drivers Margaret - we have them even here. I must admit that when I am following a car at 35-40 kph on and uncongested (straight) street I get a bit irritated, but I won't be silly about it.
    Sorry, but I had a giggle over your 'boy-racer' take off from the round about.
    Stay safe
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  17. Would have loved seeing you spinning your wheels, Margaret. I'd be having a quick look around to make sure no-one I know had noticed. Is your photo from under the tree taken in Russell?

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  18. A veces se pierde la paciencia. Besos.

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  19. There are so many impatient drivers on the roads, here too. Your take off at the round about made me smile. I know it's a scary feeling. My youngest daughter was learning to drive...she was driving, I was in the passenger seat. We were stopped at a stop light, it was raining, and when she hit the gas to go, we spun around and was then actually heading in the opposite direction in a wrong lane. My heart almost stopped beating. :)

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Thank-you for visiting my blog. I love it when you leave a comment so please feel free to have your say. Have a great day! Margaret xx