Our Me Society

4/3/26

A few days ago I was driving to town. I pulled out of our road onto Old Biloxi Road and headed south. It’s a three-lane road — a northbound lane, a southbound lane, and a center left turn only, no passing lane. I had my cruise control set at 41 miles an hour; the speed limit is 40.

On the way south, car after car passed me in the illegal center lane. The third car was a sheriff. I got to the light just before I-10, traffic was backed up in the right lane, I moved to the left lane which was empty; passing every one of them — they were all in the right lane now, apparently planning to get on the I-10 westbound entrance. I pulled up to the red light and, grinning, thought to myself, well, they didn’t get very far.

At the next light, most of them — though not the sheriff — had pulled onto I-10 westbound. I was sitting at the light in the right lane with a motorcycle beside me when the left-turn arrow for northbound traffic turned green. Cars began turning one after another onto the entrance ramp in front of us. Then our light turned green. The cars kept coming — a fifth wheel, then a car, then another. After the third one I eased out and blocked the fourth. The motorcycle pulled up right beside me. The car I blocked laid on the horn, rolled the window down, and flipped me off. The motorcyclist waved them back. They backed up, I pulled through, and they flipped me off the whole way.

I drove on with cruise control set at 46 — the speed limit on Washington Avenue is 45 — and everyone passed me again. Including that same sheriff, who had apparently watched people run that green light and done nothing. Then, at the Ridge Road light just south of I-10, it turned yellow, then red, and the two cars ahead of me drove straight through it. So did the sheriff, in the left lane. The two cars behind him followed. They all drove merrily on at around 55 in a 45.

I thought to myself: what is going on with our society? What I’ve come to think of as the Me Society.

I finished my errands and headed back north on Washington. A loud, foul-smelling truck — exhaust fumes rolling off it — was swerving through traffic and blew past me. I was in the right lane, cruise control on 46, as usual. By the time we reached the Lagoon, I had passed him — he was in the left lane, I was in the right, the same truck that had been weaving through traffic. The light turned green and he zipped out, cut in front of me, and took off, threading through cars. By Ridge Road the light was red and I had passed him again. The light turned green, he took off once more, cut in front of me again, and by the I-10 entrance the light was red and there he was in the left lane, not the turn lane, blinker on, apparently heading westbound. He gunned it at the green, pulled all the way to the front of the waiting traffic, then sat blocking the lane waiting for someone to let him in. When the light turned green again, I passed him.

Part of me wanted to laugh. Part of me wanted to be angry. But mostly I just kept thinking: Why do we act as if we’re the most important thing in the world? Why do we have to be first? Why are our own schedules more important than the law — or anyone else?

I just wonder.

I think I will soon share my thoughts about deception, hate, judgement, self righteousness, me versus them, okay, I will stop(I first wrote, “sorry, I will stop”, and I know I am not the least bit sorry, so I changed to, “okay, I will stop”) for now; we all know who we are. 

Your thoughts??

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