Traffic, scooters, daycare and sourgrapes

Having previously owned a couple of motorcycles and now using a motor scooter for commuting, I’ve noticed some things about the people I share the roads with: a lot of people are sourgrapes and hate knowing that someone is getting a better deal than them.

For example, take a pair of motorcycles that lane-split or utilize a parking lane. Many other drivers seem to get very upset about this. They just hate the idea that someone else is moving through traffic faster than they are. The real kicker is that they are quite often too dumb to realize that they benefit from these types of traffic flow. Every motorcycle or scooter that splits a lane is decreasing congestion for the other riders. I think this is a lot like the supporters of the Conservative’s national daycare plan. A lot of people hate the idea that someone else (parents with kids enrolled in traditional daycare) gets something while they do not. It’s the old “what about me” sourgrapes attitude.