Post #204375 by mbonga on Sat, Dec 24, 2005 1:36 PM

My theory is that the only difference between Christmas time and other times is that because more people are crammed into the same areas, the public's usual inconsiderateness and unawareness are amplified. Whereas ordinarily one person not making a right turn at a light would normally hold up only 1-3 cars, at a shopping mall on Christmas weekend, they hold up about 15 cars. Whereas normally I can't walk down a Wal-Mart aisle without somebody backing up into me while I'm walking, or having the entire aisle blocked by a single cart, now I can barely even move in there at all. Whereas normally a teenaged girl coughing from a cold without covering her mouth would be several feet away from everybody else, now several people are within vapor range of her. Whereas ordinarily if a driver can't see a turnoff sign in time, there is room to change lanes, now they hold up about 20 cars in each of two lanes while they attempt to change lanes. Add to that all the businesses closing a day early so I can't get typical chores done, and the frustrations mount even more.

Today is Christmas Eve and I ain't budging from home today. Last year at this time I lived across from a big shopping mall and I woke up thinking there was a wedding or something because of all the honking going on at the intersection outside my apartment. But it was just Christmas shoppers in a 4-block-long traffic jam, angry at each other. The honking went on all day long. It was unreal. The only reason I would even consider getting out today is to document all the madness and angry faces with my digital camera, for amusement purposes and for posting on the Internet.

[ Edited by: mbonga 2005-12-24 14:10 ]

[ Edited by: mbonga 2005-12-24 14:11 ]

[ Edited by: mbonga 2005-12-24 14:12 ]