Dear City I Heart:

Good morning!

I hope you had a nice, restful sleep and that you're gearing up for one last day before the long weekend. A few things to keep in mind, and I'll break these down by the parties they are directed at. Makes life so much easier, doesn't it?

Calgary Transit:

To the bus who was on Crowchild southbound this morning at about twenty after six, and turned off onto 50th... Turn on your bloody lights. I do not particularly care that you are off-duty, it was still dark out and my fellow morning drivers and I would appreciate knowing before being on your ass that you are not stopped at the side of the road. This, of course, would be helped even more by you traveling at a rate of more than forty kilometres an hour. Speed limit along there is eighty. Speed it up, turn on your lights. Okay? Okay.

To the buses who were on Crowchild NORTHbound yesterday afternoon at about twenty after four... Really? Bus number 7245 (it was route 181 for anyone who's curious) and the bus that was in front (route 20, couldn't catch the bus number) - that exit for Bow Trail does not come up out of nowhere. You noticed all those vehicles in front of and behind you changing lanes in preparation for the bridge over Bow... Did it not occur that perhaps you ought to change lanes as well? Neither of you stopped at the stop before 17th. Transit vehicles, and in fact all vehicles, should not use the shoulder as a merge lane. Especially when you're heading on to a bridge and the vehicles you are cutting off don't have a whole heck of a lot of space to move over. And it's not like you're driving a Smart car that only takes up two feet in the lane.

Figure it out.

Drivers in Big Trucks:

Slow it down. The roads aren't icy yet, but visibility the last two afternoons has been somewhat shite. Sure, okay, you're driving an F-250 with a lift kit, cattleguard, and spotlights - you're pretty much indestructible (not to mention THUPERCOOL). The vehicles you're stomping all over, though? Not so much.

Yep, I drive a Jeep, and I occasionally get impatient with the smaller vehicles moving at a crawl. (haha, but if you've seen my Jeep you know it's a little one and generally my eyeline is below the lip of the truck beds around me) But hey, guess what? That's rush hour for you. Riding bumpers when people are a wee bit jumpy - and made jumpier by the fact that all they can see in their rearview is your TIRES - is bad news. You'll survive an accident, most likely, but hey - vehicular manslaughter and/or negligence causing death carries a worse punishment than being ten minutes late for dinner.

I'm just sayin.

Long weekend coming up, and that means higher rate of accidents on the highways and city streets. Give yourself extra time to get where you're going. If you're running late, accept the fact that you are running late - and if you're like me, I know that's no easy task - and keep your driving unasshole-ish. Everyone's got places to go, and everyone's got people to see. You're not special in that regard.

I'm pretty sure that - potential of aggravating family members notwithstanding - everyone wants to reach their destination in one piece.

In the immortal words of Ms. Julia Stiles:

"Remove head from sphincter, then drive."

*giggles*