Stop - To come to a halt, stop moving; "the car stopped"; "She stopped in front of a store window."

Of all the things that tick me off in the world one of those things has really become an issue for me lately -- people who do not stop or go when it's not their turn at stop signs. If you do this, you know who you are and maybe you should work on it. Everyday I come to work I turn south off of Walnut and go down Washington to get to the Nevada Daily Mail. And everyday, even if I'm not at the stop sign yet, I see people pull up to the stop signs, or make a poor excuse of a pause and take off.

Understandably, a lot of the time there's no one else at the stop signs, so what's the point in stopping all the way? I'll tell you why! 1. It's the law, and 2. Practice makes perfect! In the past month alone I've been almost hit by two people who were irresponsible and mistook the giant red octagon for a giant red triangle. Right now, it's not an issue of if I'm going to get hit, it's when. I pray to God that it doesn't happen.

As I just stated, in the past month I've been almost hit by people who were irresponsible at the stop signs. These "almost accidents" not only happened in the same month, but they also are in the top two spots on my "What P.O.'s me on the road" list. Now I'm going to paint you a picture of what happened:

About two weeks ago, I was sitting in my little blue car at the stop sign facing south on Washington and Cherry. Traffic was kind of heavy, but not New York traffic jam heavy. A man in a Dodge Durango pulled up facing east. It was his turn to go, and he had his blinker on signaling he was going to turn to the north. I waited for him to turn, and when he did I started to pull out into the intersection. Apparently this man made a quick change in direction and decided he needed to go straight instead of turning. So what does he do? He turns his SUV back into the intersection -- where I was almost in the middle of -- and directs his vehicle straight (for me)! WHAT THE HELL?! Although this was honk-worthy, I did not use my horn. Instead, I stared daggers through my big sunglasses; which I knew wouldn't do any good, but because assault is illegal, this was my only option.

Ironically enough, the second part of my story is also at the intersection of Washington and Cherry. I was coming back from my lunch break from working in the mailroom this past Tuesday, and pulled behind a vehicle at the stop sign. Again, the traffic was kind of heavy because of the lunch hour. The person in front of me drove off, and I pulled up to the stop sign. A girl in a small car and I pulled up at stop signs at the same time, I waved to her to signal that she could turn and I'd wait. She pulled onto Washington, so I started pulling out into the intersection when out of no where this guy in a huge white pickup pulled out in front of me! He did not stop and wait for his turn! He put my insurance rates, car, and my well-being in jeopardy.

This, my friends, was honk-worthy in my book. I laid on the horn, and what does this joker do? He waves at me! Let me rephrase that: I honked angrily at him, and he felt the a wave -- what you give someone when they let you have the right of way or to say hi -- was an appropriate gesture to bestow upon me. Well, I had a hand gesture that I didn't give him and a few choice words that I did! Oh my gosh, I can't even being to explain the rage I was feeling. It was the deep-seeded rage that you feel tingling all over your body. Again, assault is illegal -- I believe pulling out in front of someone is too -- so I did not follow him. I wouldn't have really beat him up, however, I would have liked to verbally assault this man.

When it comes to knowing that, although others do not always do the right thing, you can be the bigger person and do them yourself, I often feel like people who do the right thing get taken advantage of. I don't have a clue as to why I keep following the law... actually I do, I want to keep my insurance rates down as well as my traffic record. As for you all who feel that making hazardous moves in traffic is OK, it's really not. You know who you are, and remember practice makes perfect! Not to mention it will keep Johnny Law off your back. Until next time, remember our roads, paved or gravel, are NOT a place for demolition derbies!

Peace. (Unless you cross my path when it's not your turn at a stop sign!)