People Who Really Irritate Me

I am not an angry guy. I have to provide that disclaimer, or else parts of today's blog would seem somewhat hypocritical. I get irritated easily. I get really irritated at stupid people...not persons with low I.Q.s, necessarily. Sometimes they are the least stupid. I get irritated with people who, for whatever reason, do stupid things. That includes myself at times. That should cover me enough to proceed with my list of people who really irritate me.
1) I am irritated by the toll takers on the Pocahontas Parkway. For those unacquainted with this highway, it's basically a ten minute shortcut for which one must pay a $2.00 toll. That, in itself, is irritating. If I was a toll taker, I'd treat my customers like they were good gold. I mean here they are shelling out two bucks each way. But everytime I hit the toll booth (not literally), the toll taker acts as if I'm interrupting her. Sometimes she'll take a minute to put down the newspaper, or she'll finish filling out a report, or, at least, acting like that's what she's doing. Regardless of their particular activity, they always want to make me wait. Perhaps that's their way of saying I should get an EZ Pass, or whatever they call those things. If I were a toll taker, I'd be the best darn toll taker in the history of turnpikes. My hand would be ready and waiting. And, I'd smile and thank each toll payer. I'd make people want to drive across my bridge just to see me. That's always been a dream of mine. I guess I got sidetracked there. Sorry.
2) I get irritated at drivers who don't know how to play Squeeze 'Em Out. I don't try to squeeze other drivers out as a rule. But I do try to squeeze out those maniacs who come flying up behind me, zipping from one lane to the next. There's a skill to leading them into the false sense of security that they can pass me on the right and then squeeze back into the passing lane in front of me. I love knowing I've slowed these idiots down. What irritates me is when the driver in front of me doesn't play along. How can he (or she) be so unaware of the aggressive maniac weaving all over the road? Sometimes the driver in front of me will even slow down to purposely allow that maniac to squeeze in. That really irritates me.
3) My biggest irritation this week is at those who are wont to make this hurricane relief thing a racial issue. I hear both blacks and whites suggesting that if the New Orleans' victims who were stranded at the Superdome had been white, there never would have been any problems. That's a bunch of crud (to put it mildly). I agree that things were not handled well. That's primarily because most bureaucrats (regardless of political persuasion or anything else) are totally inept themselves. They're really just glorified toll takers. But, while I know there are some really crumby people out there, I don't really believe that even the dumbest bureaucrat is going to say, "Let's deprive those folks of needed help because they're black." Yes, I'm certain there is some bigotry in the world. But, perhaps the biggest bigots are those who would accuse us non-blacks of being so vile that we would deliberately withold aid from another person because of his skin color or his economic status.
Come to think of it, that doesn't just irritate me, it makes me angry.