Privilege

People. They annoy me. In particular people who treat driving as a right that they have and something that is just getting in the way of doing other jobs. It seems that they don't understand that driving is a complex task and a very dangerous one at that. You are in control of a tone of speeding metal being propelled by burning an explosive fuel, amongst a crowd of other speeding metal bullets being controlled by people. This is not something you can do with your spare attention.

It is also a privilege. It is not a right that you have. What do they think? They pretended to be safe and responsible long enough to get their licence so now they have the right to drive however they like? NO! You have gained the privilege of driving and you should not abuse that.

Example of such abuse, talking on the phone. Talking on the phone takes too much of your attention to do while driving, they have done many studies to show this and that is why it is illegal, not just for fun. Not only is it dangerous, as far as I can tell, it is completely unnecessary. I do not know of anyone that is so busy that they MUST make a call whilst driving. I understand that sometimes there will be extraneous circumstances that create the need, but they are rare.

In my opinion, and of course this is just my opinion, there is rarely a need to be talking on the phone whilst driving and every time I see it, it makes me mad. It is an abuse of the privilege of driving, and arrogantly risking the safety of all the other drivers on the road.

This then got me thinking, if driving is a privilege that they abuse, are there privileges that I abuse? And I have to say yes. My whole life is a privilege, and I am abusing it. There is so much that I could be doing, trying, mastering, failing, experiencing, enjoying and seeing, and I don't think reruns of Friends is they best one. Hell, even the rubbish food that I eat is an abuse of the privilege I have to be in country where I can eat whatever I want without any real worry of malnutrition or starving. So from now on, instead of getting angry at drivers on the phone, I am going to use that as a reminder to stop waisting so much of the privilege that I have.