Friday, June 17, 2016



Two and a half years have passed since I last posted anything on this blog but something happened today that has driven me back to the keyboard.  

I pulled out of the driveway this morning and was sitting at the stop sign at the intersection of Sweetbay and Narcissa, and here comes a shiny white car whipping around the corner from Narcissa to Sweetbay without even a pause at the other stop sign. 

On impulse, I leaned on my horn.  The driver, who had already passed me,  stopped, backed up, lowered her window and said: "What's the problem?"

"I guess you didn't see the stop sign?" I asked.

"Yes I saw it!" she retorted sharply. "There was no one there. I didn't interfere with anyone. I didn't interfere with you. Chill out!" she commanded.

"But you're supposed to stop," I said.

"Chill out!" she yelled again. And with a look of disgust, she sped on her way. She is, of course, not the only person who has ever run a stop sign in Portuguese Bend. 

However...here's the bad news. The last time I looked at the DMV instruction book, it said the law requires drivers to come to a COMPLETE STOP at all stop signs. Period.

So, no. I don't think I'll chill out.

Instead, I offer this suggestion to the snippy woman in the white car,  and everyone else who seems to think that it's OK to whip through stop signs if no one is around:


Alternately, we could just remove all the stop signs in Portuguese Bend.

Would that make everyone happier?