You drive me crazy!

Driving in Penang, or being driven in Penang, can either be an interesting experience or a harrowing one. Those who live or have been here can attest to that. For as long as I've been driving, which is about 5 years, lots of things can happen on the road here.

I consider myself a "safe" driver, having not had any major accidents happening when I drive, although at times I feel like my licence should be revoked for a week or two. I am a calm driver and I'm not quick to panic behind the wheel, although, sometimes, you just want to wring the other driver's neck for cutting in when they shouldn't and driving at 15km/h when the limit is 80km/h.

Ever wonder why things seem to go wrong when you're in a hurry? Let's say you're 15 minutes away from being late for work and you try to rush but then there's the guy hogging both lanes and going at 20km/h while talking on the handphone in front of you. Ugh, pure frustration! Sometimes, it's just the traffic lights that just won't help. Red... red... yellow going on red... red and the 'turtle' in front of you manages to squeeze through leaving you facing the RED light.

Somehow, when you're early, circumstances seem to go FOR you to make you reach your destination even EARLIER than expected. People are behaving themselves on the road, some even making way for you to overtake them, lights stay green for as long as you can remember. Ironic, isn't it?

I remember just a couple of days ago, on my way home, driving in the night drizzle, being on the main road AND having the right of way, when I spotted a lady turning out from a junction as though not to have noticed me. Just to be safe, I honked her to let her know I was there but she still squeezed in front of me. Oh well, let it be then, right? Wrong! At the traffic lights just yards away from all this, I was stuck behind this lady when lo and behold, she stared right into her rear view mirror and gesturing in the most 'poetic' way she could to display her displeasure at my honking. Amazing, really. If only I understood sign language, then maybe I could interpret it better. And you'd think that once the light turned green and we drove along that she would stop gesturing, right? Wrong again! She kept gesturing and looking intently into the rear view mirror until finally I overtook her without so much as a glance.

What did I do, you wonder? I was surprised that I wasn't offended as I laughed my way home. Like I said, I don't know sign language. But that's how it is, sometimes, being on the road in Penang. As much as you want to be courteous on the road, you have to play mean in order to be able to get to your destination as safe as possible. But I don't think I'd want to learn the art of sign language JUST yet.