To all the drivers who ride in the middle lane…
Posted by Topopotomopolot@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 57 comments
Keep doing whatever the fuck you want.
I’ll drive my truck and go around you if I want, or not. I don’t care. I’m probably slower than you anyhow, and if I’m not than I should probably slow down.
It’s fine. You’re not hitting me, I’m not in danger because of you. Carry on man.
To all the drivers who cut me off because they want to go 1.5 mph faster than me. East shit and die.
Go home. Kill yourself, if you had kids, kill them first. You’re a whiny bitch and the world would be better off if you hadn’t been born. Purge your spawn. Do everyone a favor. Stop breathing.
Thanks.
Cunt.
halfcow@reddit
Wait, wait, wait. So you started off, as if this post was about middle lane drivers? But then you said, "Do what you want."
You changed gears, and now it's about people who cut you off. Why don't you just tap the brake for 10 seconds, and let them by? The elephant race includes 2 elephants.
aCausticAutistic@reddit
I've never understood this. You know what I do when I encounter someone going 1-2 miles per hour slower than me? That's my speed now. Time for a convoy boys. It's not my responsibility to slow down for people that want to get to their destination a couple minutes early,
halfcow@reddit
Correct. But if they're already out there, riding side-by-side, then you're only hurting the traffic behind you. You're right, it's not your responsibility. But it sure would be courteous if one of you would let the other one pass.
aCausticAutistic@reddit
No. THEY are hurting traffic behind me. I am minding my own business. Before I started trucking at no point did I blame the person in the right lane because some asshat took 5 minutes to pass them. Everyone knows who the asshole is. I'm not going to help assholes be assholes ever.
halfcow@reddit
YOU are contributing to the situation. You can literally press the brake for 10 seconds, and you won't? You are enabling him, and enabling this situation to draw out as long as possible.
Besides all of that, don't you know it is more dangerous to hang out beside other vehicles? You should want to get yourself out of that situation (for your own benefit).
aCausticAutistic@reddit
I'm not hanging out anywhere. They are hanging out. I'm not enabling anything. There is absolutely nothing on my conscience for minding my own business. If they hit me, that's money in my pocket too and they learn their lesson. I can only win by continuing to do my own thing.
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
Also, I started off with the comment on middle lane drivers as a sort of reference to the last few weeks on this sub Reddit. There has been a lot of discussion complaining about driving in the middle lane. I meant to mock the people who complain about middle lane drivers, partly because I’m a heavy middle lane driver, and I get the sense that the people who complain about middle lane driving are just impatient ass holes who don’t like that other people are trying to drive in a meta-safe/efficient way.
kane_eightee@reddit
If the left Kane doesn’t have truck restrictions, by all means ride that middle lane. But, just a few weeks ago on the Jersey pike, I got cited for being in the left lane bc there were at least a dozen trucks riding the middle ALL DOING 50 in a 65.
I couldn’t see if the right lane was clear for obvious reasons, and there were ZERO four wheelers in the left lane until the cop came zipping up behind me. $86 ticket nbd, other than it being on my otherwise spotless MVR, and as it turned out, when I got over to the side for the stop, the whole fucking right lane was clear.
So yea, if there’s a truck restriction and you ride the middle lane, FUCK YOU. If the left lane is legal then do as you please. Impeding traffic is a cite-able offense, but the cops never seem to enforce that one on all the middle-lane campers.
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
🪞
halfcow@reddit
Well, there's your trouble.
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
That’s a good point. There is definitely a subtlety to being an asshole, vs not.
The extreme rage doesn’t come from someone trying to merge because there’s a cop on the shoulder. I don’t get pissed when there’s traffic, and someone has their signal on and they’re waiting for an opening. I might get a little spark of anger at first, but then I read the full context of the situation, and it fizzles.
My full on hate boner comes out when them mother fucker is just impatient, they didn’t signal, they didn’t have an emergency reason to cut me off. They hatred comes when they just did it to do it. Because their was a fraction of a gap and they took it hoping if slow down for them.
There is no where near enough room for them to be sure I’d see them. They roll the dice that I’m hyper focused, and they risk everything for a fucking right ass spot. I am, but that’s not the point. If they put their responsibility on me, they’re a cunt.
aCausticAutistic@reddit
That last paragraph is insane but honestly I get it
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
Insanity is going the same thing and expecting different results.
Every time they nearly kill me or someone else’s, I back off. I manage the situation, and I hope they never show up again. Damn right it’s insane. The whole idea is insane.
Let’s put a hundred thousand chimps behind a steering wheel, set the speed limit to faster than almost any mammal has ever moved in the history of the world, paint a few lines on the road and hope they’re all cool.
Fucking right it’s insane. My response is perfectly normal considering some of us chimps are casually nearly killing others all damn day.
This shits weird yo.
aCausticAutistic@reddit
I have found I enjoy trucking a lot more when I don't get so enraged about things I tell someone to kill their own children then themselves.
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
Look man, I think we’re not entirely on the same wavelength here. If I used friendlier language, it would be less ugly to read.
I’m using ugly language to make a point. If I said that people who cut off others in traffic should be made to pay a fine, it wouldn’t really reflect the ugliness of the feelings I get when they do it.
When I say they should kill themselves and their children, that goes further than you would go in your description… right? I do that to indicate that my emotions go further than they would normally go if I were casually inconvenienced.
Hyperbole is a form of irony. I’m not saying they should actually do that. Im using the hyperbole to illustrate a point. My point is, I’m not being casually inconvenienced.
I’m being casually inconvenienced, ultimately. But holistically, my life is put in imminent danger, along with the whole group of people around me by someone who is disregarding the full depth of the situation, and the only reason Im ultimately only casually inconvenienced is because of my own hyper vigilance.
See the mapping between the action and my style of language?
Broad-Ad-1015@reddit
To add on to this the fucking four wheelers that speed up to get around cut you off and start rapidly slowing down add them to this list as well
heliogoon@reddit
This happens to me EVERY. FUCKING. DAY.
and it will never not piss me off.
Gradei@reddit
Also the state police
bunssnowman@reddit
And the ones that speed up when you try to pass them.
unwantedrelic@reddit
Figured out that if you get in the hammer lane right when they slow down they all of a sudden gain a turbo on their car.
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
They can also push daisies, but I wouldn’t smite them so much because they don’t always know better.
Another trucker cuts me off, can drink fresh squeezed lemon juice for the rest of their lives.
Broad-Ad-1015@reddit
Idk man the past couple weeks they've been really doing it a lot more I think they know and are just trying to get insurance if they live ya know 50/50 either way I don't have to worry about money at least for a little bit mind set
12InchPickle@reddit
reads user flare
Copy.
GED_certified-frog@reddit
Congrats on the top 1% badge pickle you deserve it ❤️
nrcondeee@reddit
If people actually would yield coming on the highway in Massachusetts then I wouldn’t be riding the middle lane although I’m governed to the speed limit at 65. If I rode the right lane and trusted other drivers they would end up being crushed between me and the barrier
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
Gotta play the meta rules bro.
BizSecurity@reddit
The middle lane is 1 of 3 options. The fast lane is generally not one, leaving 2 with a similar concept, Pass or move to the slow lane. I find it difficult to move right and left constantly but I do it a lot everyday. Sometimes I go into the middle and find myself riding in it passing vehicles consistently, so I don’t jump out. It is hard to see what or who’s directly behind me often and I’m definitely not making moves based off of that but hopefully you find peace and satisfaction switching, passing, or riding wherever you need to make a living and the rest do too. All that extra bs about killing and dying should be nixed like road rage as it only makes you seem like the problem. Safe Travels.
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
Without the rage, it would be a lie. The rage would be there if I didn’t type it out. I don’t act on the rage. I dont indulge it in the moment. But it is there.
In the moment. I slow down, and wait my turn and breathe and remember I am at the front of a 40+ ton wall of destruction hurtling through space.
Also in the moment. Another guy, also at the front of his own 40ton wall of death decides to casually endanger me, and all of the other people on the road, because he dismisses the fact that we’re all here and we’re all vulnerable. But he wants to go a little faster. Just a little faster. So he can feel the dopamine release as he sees him self passing other people.
That guy is a danger to himself, to me and to everyone else, and his attitude only fairly represented if I say things like…his every act is a depreciation of the sum total of human effort. The world would be better if he weren’t around. Anyone who takes after the guy, is also a drag.
It’s an ugly little part of my mind, but he’s an ugly little part of the world. I can’t get rid of him. My choice to call him an excellent candidate for suicide is exactly as true as his choice to nearly kill me. Except my choice is made out of words, and his choice is made out of steel.
If it weren’t for my diligence, he’d succeed.
BizSecurity@reddit
Maybe he’s just started a fresh 14 and in a different state of mind than you.
There are ~>1000 reasons how it could be without you being that negative toward yourself or anyone else nor their family or investment of time and energy for something so simple as we all need to keep it pushing forward through the bottleneck.
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
People have infinite freedom in all directions; to do whatever they want, whenever and for whatever reason.
But your freedom to throw a punch ends where my nose begins. You don’t get to selfishly cut me off in traffic without totally deserving my animosity.
If you’re driving like a fucking degenerate. It’s perfectly in balance for me to think you’re a vile piece of shit.
Encouraging good vibes is cool. And if you’re better at it than me, I’m jealous. But I can’t call them anything other than what I think they are.
BizSecurity@reddit
I drive too so I figured I’d try and let you in on some of things I’ve been working on. I get frustrated too but I slow myself down and think about all the variables I don’t know about. Lots of trucks can go faster than what mine is governed at so I had to work through that but the 4 wheelers get most of my frustration but the lack of consideration I see from us drivers to each is huge too. We’ve got to be better but still all get our ends in this competitive world.
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
Yeah man, the road is different to Reddit though. Words don’t have any use behind the wheel, but the feelings are there. They only last a few minutes really. This chat is something I don’t see a lot of and I figured it was worth putting out for some reason.
BizSecurity@reddit
Seeking Help 1 way or another can be good. Voicing your stuff and talking it out. We spend a lot of time alone and all we get is fucking bad traffic people “to interact with.” I stay out months at a time, So I, like I’m sure many others, can understand the frustrations and all. Just start the hard work (you for you) and hope people follow suit (them for themselves) it seems less cold when you’re with likeminded motivated conscientious people and you’re all reaping the benefits. This is Solo (or team) work so we have to do our best and hope.
Kaethor@reddit
I truly believe if you can prove that someone is driving like an asshole you should be able to run them over without consequences.
SusanRoss27@reddit
Would you feel better if the person in the middle lane was a woman riding with her boobs out?
kane_eightee@reddit
Can’t be bothered to “KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS” or back off for 10 seconds to get this shit over with, well, then I guess I can’t be bother to give you any space. You ain’t showing me any courtesy, so why tf should I give you any? #notsorry
spacem0@reddit
Then people cry when they get cut off cuz they are riding the middle lane
kane_eightee@reddit
Exactly. Like the OP. 😂😂😂
NJPokerJ@reddit
``~°,21
THExPILLOx@reddit
I may agree or disagree with you up until that last paragraph. What the fuck dude? Get help. Who the fuck sits in their truck and types out the words "if you had kids, kill them first"
JColeTheWheelMan@reddit
As a truck driver I think that all the time. It's probably the second most common thought that people have about others.
kane_eightee@reddit
Nah, not “kill your kids”. It’s “your parents should’ve aborted you” or “your mom should’ve swallowed.”
ExamPatient@reddit
Don't kill your own kids but castrate yourselves so there will be no chance that you will reproduce
Sir_Uncle_Bill@reddit
Not me. I hope nobody was stupid enough to have kids with them in the first place.
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
It’s called hyperbole. Also, I’m not in my truck.
RebelTvshka@reddit
Morbid humor is like a fine wine.
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
That’s exactly right. Pour a bottle into your ass and you’ll be a lot drunker than if you poured it into your face.
UncleBensMushies@reddit
You put morbid humor in your ass?
Lanky-Present2251@reddit
Now tell us how you really feel.
Green_Lawyer_1049@reddit
I don't know what is but this is so bad on the jersey turnpike. The njtp doesn't even have a lot of on ramps either. It's designed to have few exits with long on ramps but everyday the middle is just clogged with trucks doing 5 under
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
This is a part of the context that dictates how pissed so actually get. If I’m in the north east, I forgive more, because so many of the roads were built 200 years ago, and there’s a million shitty decisions made by civil engineers that force drivers into bad situations. Im still pissed, but I hate the map, not the drivers.
It’s sort of a more fun type of anger, because no one is actually trying to kill you, they’re just as fucking forced into each shitty decision as everyone else, so it feels like we’re all fighting the road together.
High blood pressure, lots of shouting. But it’s kinda funny. Not as acidic.
672Antarctica@reddit
PMS
SandyAmbler@reddit
Does the air horn gesture
Ok-Assignment-9959@reddit
Well good thing I'm not governed. I do see my kids. So I'll stay in the middle lane so I don't hit the ppl merging off and on the highway.
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
Drive like a sane person, and you give out sane person vibes. I like that shit.
6Super6John6@reddit
He said quietly to himself... Odds are if the same truck pulls into the fuel island next to you, you’re also quiet.
Topopotomopolot@reddit (OP)
Of course I am. I do t want to die, I don’t want to murder anyone. I try everyday to make sure that doesn’t happen.
But the guy who cuts me off doesn’t care. He only counts on the fact that everyone else doesn’t want to die to justify his extreme risk taking. And we let him get away with it because we don’t want to die, and we don’t want to kill. He exists because of us.
If you’re him, fuck you. If not, carry on man.