A wise reader made a comment on Six types of annoying people about another very annoying type of person I'd carelessly omitted to mention. Specifically, "[d]rivers with the right-of-way who stop and wave me through under the guise of being considerate when I am already stopped and waiting for them ... It achieves nothing but to slow everyone down."
Amen to that. I'm sure we've all encountered such a person, someone who for reasons known only to themselves urges another driver (who does not have the right of way) onwards. Figuring this motorist must be intent on convincing me to break the road rules so I get pulled over by a police officer, I am staunch in the face of such illogical behaviour.
I'll sit there all day if I have to. There are plenty of ways to fill in the time. I can change stations on the radio, programme my navigation system, rifle through my handbag and even apply some lipstick if necessary.
It can take a while but eventually the motorist will realise I'm not going anywhere and he (or she) roars off in a huff as if they are the wronged party when in fact they'd needlessly instigated and prolonged the entire charade. As the person who commented on the original article wrote, "[w]e all know the rules and are happy to abide by them because we know that everything moves faster when everyone obeys them ... Just take-the-right-of-way people!"
Those who are control freaks behind the wheel don't just target other motorists. Sometimes they dish up the same sort of random behaviour to pedestrians. I've seen drivers stop their cars when they see that someone is waiting on a footpath to cross a road. (I'm not referring to situations involving a pedestrian crossing which, of course, are entirely different.)