New Girl

The Geeky Hostess is gonna help you get your manners on! Each Monday, we’ll focus on a topic of etiquette. We’ll take a look at the classic rules (using Emily Post as a guide), and then evaluate the rules for our daily lives, creating a guide to “Geek Etiquette.” Have an etiquette question or topic suggestion? Email tara@geekyhostess.com!

When I ask people what etiquette topic I should cover next, one issue comes up more than any others: driving. It may not be geeky, but it’s at the top of Seattle geeks’ minds: we know how we should behave, yet everyone is guilty of committing some driver etiquette no-nos. Just the other day, I encountered people cutting me off, tailing me, merging over multiple lanes without a turn signal, not stopping at stop lights, stopping in the middle of the road, putting their car into reverse suddenly, driving too fast, and driving too slow. It’s a miracle my car and I made it home in one piece!

Emily Post has some great advice on the “Rules of the Road” that I suggest you read–it’ll be a good reminder for yourself on simple driving etiquette rules. But for this post, I thought we’d get our advice from Jess of “New Girl”. Take a look at this one minute clip:

(For those outside of the US, Jess bests a bad parker with a gun using nothing but kindness.)

While I spend a large amount of time in my car angrily muttering at people who cut me off or stole my parking spot, I should stop and remember: they’re people too. When I’m stressed out in traffic because I want to get home, I should realize that everyone else is trying to do the same thing. We all are just trying to get somewhere safely, and we don’t know if the person who didn’t use a turn signal is dealing with a breakup or if the person driving too fast is bringing someone to the hospital. I once had someone back into me in a parking lot and instantly start crying about her horrible day. She didn’t leave a scratch on my car, and the only thing she left with was a hug from me.

Granted, sometimes people really are just the worst. And for them, there are “You Park Like an Asshole” citations. Print a few out to keep in your glovebox, but while they’re funny, you should only use them if you truly know the situation. Sometimes it’s best to give drivers the benefit of the doubt, and learn from their wrong-doings.

What piece of driving/parking advice would you give drivers?