I think it’s important for every college student to visit hishometown from time to time to remind himself exactly why he left togo to college in the first place. For me, this venture leads me backto my upper-middle classsuburban Bay Area hometown of Foster City.
It doesn’t take very long to realize why I left Foster City.There’s absolutely nothing to do there. There’s no downtown,nightlife or crime. If you decide to throw a party, it’ll get brokenup within an hour because after you play loud rap music, yourneighbors will call the cops thinking rap music means they are aboutto get robbed. Because there is no crime, the cops have nothing to doand, as a result, will follow behind you in their cars for blocks,hoping for the off chance that you might go through a stop sign andget nailed by them. Because of this, everybody drives veryconservatively.
As you can imagine, becoming a driver down here in San Diego hasbeen a transition. There’s one key phrase I believe describes thedriving habits of San Diegans commuting in the morning: “batsh**insane.”
When driving to San Diego from the Bay Area, I can always tellwhen I’m getting close because the closer I get to San Diego, thecrazier people drive.
People here don’t let you merge into their lanes. You could be 20yards in front of someone and even turn on your signal to get intohis lane. The chances are the driver will see your signal to get intohis lane and then think it’s a good idea to speed up to disallow youthe opportunity. After all, it’s his lane – he should be given theright to allow whomever he wants into it. However, if you’re feelingballsy and decide to enter another San Diegan’s driving lane withoutpermission, then you have to watch out. Once you get halfway into thelane, he’ll probably speed up to scare you into going back into yourown lane.
I’ve seen a lot of accidents since I’ve been down here. With themI always see a ton of motorists passing by with confused looks ontheir faces. It’s as if they’re asking, “How could something likethat happen here?” After asking themselves that question for amoment, most drivers will probably get back to their usual routine ofchasing any unsuspecting driver out of their lanes.
I also don’t understand why everybody in San Diego likes to leavetheir blinker on after they’ve changed lanes. It doesn’t make sense.I’ve lost track of the numerous times I’ve been following behind somebig truck whose driver forgot to turn off his blinkers. These kindsof things force you to slow down to 60 miles per hour on the freeway,making it all but impossible to force your way into someone else’slane behind you who’s going 90 mph.
And the fun doesn’t stop when you get off the freeway. No, you getto play “dodge the unsuspecting pedestrian” all the way to theparking garage. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the game whereyou have to watch out for those people wearing headsets and a beanieover their eyes, who think it’s a good idea to walk unannounced infront of your car when you’re trying to go into Parking Structure Vin the morning. I used to honk at these people, but I’ve realized itdoes no good. When you honk at someone who’s walked in front of yourcar, it tells everybody else around you that you’ve stopped, so it’sOK for all of them to cross the street in front of your car. Thisleads you to be 10 minutes late to your first class as you wait forabout 20 students to cross the street in front of you.
These things used to bother me, but now I just let them slide.After all, it takes me all of a minute on the freeways here to remindmyself exactly why I left Foster City in the first place.
– Elliot Holt is an economics junior and a senior staff writer forThe Daily Aztec.
– This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of TheDaily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com.Anonymous letters will not be printed – include your full name, majorand year in school.
