A familiar rant

Today's quote: Well, there are some things you should know. First off, you see gum on the street, leave it there. It's not candy. Second, there are, like, thirty Ray's Pizzas. They all claim to be the original. But the real one's on 11th. And if you see a sign that says "Peep Show", that doesn't mean that they're letting you look at presents before Christmas.

I know everyone who knows me has heard me go off on this subject many times, but I think I just need to get it out of my system once and for all.

The subject: cellphones.

Yes, I have one myself. But I rarely use it when I'm driving, which is what set me off today. I got cut off by this asshole today, who was predictably using a cellphone and driving at the same time. The way I figure it is that most people just aren't smart enough to do both at the same time, yours truly included. Heck, sometimes I get distracted just from talking to someone next to me, let alone hold a cellphone to my ear and try to drive at the same time.

Maybe I'm just really pissed because I've gotten into an accident where I was rear-ended by a stupid unlicensed teenager who was also talking on a goddamn cellphone on the freeway on a rainy day. She's lucky I didn't sue her parents for letting such a fucking stupid kid who didn't even have a license drive. I just had them pay for my car repairs. Maybe I'm the stupid one, but hey, I like to be nice to people.

Anyway, what really gets me is that these people don't even think about how dangerous what they're doing is. They are threatening the lives of others because of their carelessness, just because they're bored while they're driving, or they just have to take this call. Whatever. Why don't they try telling that to someone whose kid they killed because they were "busy."

The next thing that gets me is people who talk on the cell while at dinner with other people. I see people who are sitting there yakking away on the cell, ignoring their dinner companion in the meanwhile. Um, isn't that just a little rude? Just a little. Plus, they're usually shouting on the damn phone, screaming "can you hear me now?? What about now? Can you hear me now?!" Maybe the other person can't hear them, but everyone else in the entire restaurant can. The last thing I want to hear during dinner is some low-budget version of Verizon's commercial. I'm usually repressing my violent urge to tell them to shut the hell up. It sucks that law school has shown me that I can't do all these things to people anymore for fear of a lawsuit. I think I may have been happier living in my blissful ignorance.