Southern California is a potpourri of people from a wide variety of places. I rarely meet a “native Californian” in these parts. Even though people converge here from everywhere else, they all have one thing in common – that is, crazy driving!

Driving the streets is always an adventure. More often than not, there is some person in back of me just itching to get ahead. So the person quickly scoots into the right lane, puts the pedal to metal, and speeds up ahead of me, only to beat me by a second or two to the red light!

I get a good laugh at this “race to the red light” up ahead. Why put pedal to the metal when we can all see the light is turned red up ahead? Some people are so competitive!

My next favorite southern California driving adventure is on the freeways. Insane, I tell you! Don’t bother getting on the freeway during certain hours because you will certainly sit in traffic for hours. Where else can you find a six-lane highway that looks like a packed parking lot?

But back to my real rant. Here is a typical scene on the freeway (when it’s not so crowded): I put my right blinker on to switch lanes. The car in the right lane is more than one car length behind so I have plenty of room to move over. So what do you think the brainiac does? Speeds up to get ahead of me!

It’s maddening I tell you! And the parking lots in the shopping centers…well, all I can say is be careful!

Why do we love southern California? Not for the insane traffic, and certainly not for the crazy driving. We love it for the beautiful weather, the ocean breeze, and the view of the snow capped mountains from the ocean.

End of rant.