New Jersey Driving

I was back in my home state for some business. While you are away, you forget just how much fun one can have driving in New Jersey. For instance, I never forget the NJ State police hiding behind the Welcome to New Jersey sign. It is like a good friend waiting outside to welcome you on your return home.

Last Friday I experienced more of Jersey’s highway hospitality. I went into the fast lane to pass a few slow cars. A woman driving a clean shiny blue Mercedes pulls right on the bumper of my dirty black Volvo while I am still passing. The fact that I had no way to let her past till I had passed the other cars on my right did not occur to her. Maybe she obviously thought that I was an alien and my mother ship which was orbiting the earth could beam me and my car out of her way like in Galaxy Quest. Unfortunately, my static prone cell phone could not get a response from the mother ship. While I had tried to contact the mother ship, the woman in the blue Mercedes had stayed right behind me trying to clean the dirt off of my bumper. After a few more moments of such a warm Jersey welcome, I gave her a wonderful Virginia thank you by hitting my brakes twice in quick succession. Her response shows the true graceful nature of the folks in this part of the country. She let me know that I was #1. At least that is how many fingers she raised as she glared at me.

In her defense, it may be that she did not have much time to raise any other fingers. Even though she was in the fast lane, it quickly became apparent that she needed to be two lanes over to the right in order to exit. She was lucky. The cars next to her had not been paying attention and there was just enough room for her to cross over and cut-off two lanes of traffic in quick succession. The other cars did not seem to mind her driving maneuver. They let her know that they thought that she was #1. Ah, the pleasures of driving in New Jersey!