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The following 7 things should be avoided if you are a newcomer to my car and my life. Of course, if you are a friend, I will let you know how such things may be affecting the car, me, my driving habit, or Mars.

1. Opening the car windows without asking

   In some parts of the world, the temperature of the atmosphere inside the car may not change much, regardless of whether or not the car windows are open. In California and many other states, opening the car window can seriously alter the temperature. If it is freezing outside and I have the air conditioner at full or even medium heat, you coming into the car and opening the window immediately will cause the whole project of turning on the heater in my poor car for a long time to heat things up to fail. Similarly, in the scorching heat, opening the car door or the window without thinking first will let out all the cold air, and will take another 5-10 minutes to be recreated at its previous state. If you are wearing a big coat or only a t-shirt, ask and let me know so I can prepare myself too, or maybe I can offer you my extra jacket or somehow stop the car so you can take off your extra jacket.

   One person used to get in my car with his thick jacket and then open the window immediately while the heater was running at fast speed. I would tell him I was freezing and that I can turn down the heater or even turn it off, and he would start telling me that he was feeling hot, and if there was a way to turn up the cold air in the car somehow. He would say all of this while he kept the car window open and kept his thick jacket on. By the time he would close the window, the entire car would be freezing. When it comes to me, just assume there is a reason for everything. If in doubt, ask and think. Getting into a warm car wearing a thick jacket while in the cold weather outside means you may have to endure about a minute or two of the change in temperature and adjustment while you get used to the inside weather. Taking off your jacket instead of making the other person uncomfortable is a very good alternative, and if you cannot take off the jacket easily while sitting down, ask me to stop somewhere or to watch out while you sway your hands all around the place in an effort to take off your own jacket.

2. Spitting out of a moving car

   Spitting out of a car is not only rude for many people, it is also illegal in many areas. And guess who usually gets a ticket or gets into trouble? The driver of the car. If you have to spit for any reason, come up with some alternative or tell me to pull to the side.

   Long time ago a friend of mine was driving and I was a passenger in his car. He tried on a mouth wash while driving, and forgot that he had to spit out the mouth wash after about 30 seconds since the mouth wash would start burning really bad after that. Well, we were on the freeway and he was in pain after about 2 minutes of trying to hold the mouth wash. I laughed, I giggled, and I told him to simply spit it out in some lane where there were no cars since he was in pain. There were no side shoulders that he could not pull over on. He kept the acid in his mouth for about 15 minutes, probably to the point that the pain had turned into something else and he was starting to act weird. He was smiling too, but was in pain at the same time. When the first exit came, he took it and spat the mouthwash out. I asked him if he was ok. He said yes, and said that it would have been mean or bad to spit the acid out in case the “spit” hit some other car.

   Now compare that to a passenger I had in my car who was eating some fast food. He accidentally ate some small dust particle or hair or something, and could feel it on his tongue. He started hissing and spitting with a bit closed mouth, as if to try to get rid of whatever was in his mouth that did not belong there. And he did that while in the car. I had drops of spit all over my dashboard and the gearbox. He did not apologize, he did not care, he did not even joke about it. It was all normal to him. It was normal to me too, but normal as being normally bad.

3. Having the driver pick up unexpected extra passengers

   One of the worst things you can do to a driver giving you a ride is to tell them at the last minute that some of your other friends need a ride too. Whether those extra passengers live near or far is not the focus of this point: keeping the driver in the dark and then making them do extra things is the same as lying, hiding, manipulating or simply not caring. Ask the driver first, and have the extra passenger ask and thank the driver also for doing a favor to someone they are not that close to.

   I have had so many “Oh also go here, we have to pick up my girlfriend/boyfriend boss/friend homie/buddy etc“, it is very interesting. If I charged money for every extra passenger I have given a ride to, I could have made a lot of money that could have gone towards years of gas payments.

4. Not allowing the driver to make his/her own stops

   Not all drivers have to drive only to give you a ride. Some have to do their own things. If someone gives you a ride and they stop somewhere, do not get upset: you should tell the driver in advance uf you have to get somewhere by a certain time, and you should also realize that you may be late since it is someone else’s car.

   I once stopped at a gas station to buy some Kit Kat while giving someone a ride and when I got back, they looked all upset and kept hinting that they do not like making stops while going somewhere. If you have to get somewhere on time or if you have some requirements, you should keep in mind that I have some requirements too. Accommodate the driver into your plans, since apparently the driver has already accommodated you into their life and car by giving you a ride.

5. Giving instant directions

   If you have to tell the driver to make a right, tell them about it a minute or even 20 seconds before the “right” comes up. Telling the driver to make a right when the very intersection he/she has to make a right on is already intersecting the length of car itself, is usually not a good thing for many cars.

   I have people who even say “Right here, oh damn you missed the exit.” Yeah, I missed the exit, not you. Such instant-direction givers cannot even tell me to turn right on time, but they expect me to turn a multi-ton car instantly while other cars go parallel to mine. Tell me in advance or simply say “We have to make a right soon” so I can be ready for your instant orders.

6. Not pitching in for gas

   If you are getting a ride from someone, specially a new person, see if it is costing them a lot to give you a ride. Going on a long drive or going shorter distances regularly consumes gas, and gas is money. It does not matter whether or not gas is cheap: someone is giving you a ride and they are losing/spending money on top of it. See if you can chip in some money, or tell the driver that you do not have money to chip in so that driver can at least realize that you calculated their misery into the equation also.

   I have had people’s friends ask me for rides to faraway places, and on the way when I fill up the car at a gas station, they do not offer anything nor do they care about it. They simply wait in the car to make sure that I get back on the road again as soon as possible.

7. Not knowing the exact directions to where you are going

   Imagine getting in a car and telling someone to take you to a place that you do not know the location about. Unless it’s a major place or you know the nearest intersection, the driver will not know where you are going.

   I have had people get in the car and then tell me to head towards a city, and then when I get close and ask them where to go, they tell me “McDonald’s there, have to meet some people.” There are usually several McDonald’s in each city, so I have to do some searching and hunting while the passenger gets impatient over being late. It is a waste of time and a waste of energy for the driver. If you want a ride, know where you want to go or let the driver know well in advance, before the actual ride, that you do not know the exact directions.

   “I want to get to the Thai restaurant in Berkeley“, Berkeley being a city with dozens of Thai restaurants, is the same as wanting to go to a specific gas station or a restaurant in a city but not knowing the name, type of place of that gas station or restaurant. Have directions ready, or at least do some homework and have something for the driver to go on. If you let the driver know in advance that you want to go somewhere but do not know how to get there, the driver may be nice enough to do the homework for you.

There you go. The above 7 points, combined with Part 1 and Part 2, tell you about the 21 things to avoid or think about when getting a ride from someone you may not know, or me. The reason I said before that these points apply to those people who are not your friends is to show that since you are not someone’s friend, you have to consider these points that may upset, annoy or frustrate the driver or the drivers’ friends in the same car, and among other things, cause the driver to lose time and money. Friends can easily tell friends “What the heck! haha hmmm :p” and thus teach friends how some actions or things may result in more harm than good for the driver.

What is your opinion about this? Have you experience any of these points yourself, either expectedly or unexpectedly, either as a driver, a passenger, or the person doing any of the above things?

Thank you so much for reading. I enjoyed writing this series for you. Please let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, or if you think I can muster up more points and continue this series a bit more.

Thank you again.

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1. Telling the driver how to drive no matter how they drive

   Avoid telling the driver how to drive. Notice the words “Avoid telling” and not “Never tell” in this point. Avoid telling the driver how to drive if it is for small things that you yourself may be doing in some ways when you drive, or things that the driver may be used to while they drive. If the driver is driving fast and changing lanes very quickly, causing the whole car to suddenly tilt from time to time, you can go ahead and tell the driver to slow down as your life and safety is on the line. However, if the driver is driving and you keep telling her or him that they should drive with one hand on the wheel or both hands, as an example, try to think first if the current driving by the driver is dangerous or if the driver knows what she/he is doing and usually drives like that.

   I knew someone once who always told me not to show left/right turn signals when changing lanes, to stop completely at all stop signs, to always change lanes while maintaining same speed instead of slowing down to keep in the same lane, to honk at all other drivers who did not know how to drive, etc. Stop dictating everything: sure, tell me everything on your mind if you wish, but who cares which lane I drive in, as long as we get there on time and as long as I am driving safe?

2. Smoking, eating and drinking in the car without asking

   This is extremely important. I never try to eat in someone else’s car, and if I do, I eat as if my life depended on how clean I keep the car. I have had people who come into the car without knowing me much and starting to eat, drink or smoke right away. Forget that smoking kills or does any harm: I do not care about that since everyone around is usually already smoking and my lungs are starting to have DNA from other people on a regular basis. What I care about is the smell in the car: I get in the car and I can feel I am the Marlboro Man simply because my car smells like mint, tobacco and nicotine.

   One of the people who got a ride in my car would start lighting up the cigarette right in my car, and after smoking, she would ask where the ashtray was. My car does not have an ashtray, and she would honestly forget that every time. Then she would scramble around the car to look for something to put the cigarette buds in, while the ashes and the burnt cigarette bud pieces fell around my car. In the end, she would end up throwing the buds and the falling tobacco and smoked cigarette wrapper out of the window. Another guy used to eat his regular dose of Carl’s Jr. in my car and would usually leave some fries and lettuce that dropped from his mouth. If I can pick up leftovers from what adults eat and be good at it, maybe I can be a good parent and be good at cleaning up after babies too?

3. Throwing litter out of the window

   I am not sure how people who meet someone for the first time start throwing stuff out of those new people’s car from the minute they get in. And they do it while not caring about whether or not a cop might see them. If you throw stuff out of the car, it might hit some other car or the driver may get a ticket for littering. Forget the stereotypical advice “If you don’t throw trash in your home, why do you throw trash onto the streets?” That is a stupid message. What I am referring to is the idea of meeting someone for the first time, and throwing stuff out of the window without wondering whether or not the driver will be comfortable with it. It is your trash when it is being thrown out: it is the trash coming out of the car that belongs to the driver.

   I knew someone once who would go through his mail while in the car and any junk mail that he did not want, he would roll it up and throw it out of the window. I would always ask him what he threw out, but he would act as if I was asking a very sensitive question. Other people’s trash is not my business, I agree; however, my car is a driving vehicle and not a experimental garbage-shooting device for new people, so I would like to know what is being thrown out in case a cop stops us.

   Once a guy threw his soda can right through my driver-side window, instead of his passenger-side window, while we were driving on the freeway. The glass soda bottle hit my nose on the side and then flew out of the car. I immediately wondered if I had been attacked and the guy simply missed me. I started bleeding that very instant: I looked at the guy and said “What the $%^&!!??” The guy was genuinely sorry and said something along the lines of “OH MY GOD I’M SO SORRY!! Just wanted to throw it out from your side since on my side there are cars and on your side there are no cars…didn’t think it would hit you SORRY ” Even then, what the heck?

4. Making extra stops without asking first

   Similar to getting extra passengers, if you have to make extra stops, tell the driver immediately. The driver may have something in mind, and they may also have to make stops of their own. Your new unexpected stops can result in the driver losing time and not being able to do things they changed or modified in order to accommodate your ride in the first place. Try to be very explicit and transparent when asking for favors. Even if you are robbing banks, tell the driver “I have to stop by these 4 banks to try to see if I can get a good student deal on a savings account.”

   I have had people wanting to go to banks, their friend’s places, shopping stores and even restaurants while on their way to someplace else. Many times, I end up canceling whatever I had originally planned. I do not mind making extra stops, since I usually prefer making extra stops many times myself too. What I do not understand is the claim that people forget to tell me they had to make the extra stops until they get in the car or when they get near a place. Some people have even told me “Oh, take this road, I prefer this road” and then when we get to a place where they want to make an unexpected stop using the road they told me to take, they say “Oh, I just remembered, I have to stop at so and so.” Maybe I should make dozens of unexpected stops while giving rides also.

5. Refusing to put on the seat belt

   This used to be a big deal before, when drivers used to get tickets for any passengers who had not put on their seat belts. Nowadays, anyone not putting on the seat belt gets into trouble themselves unless I am mistaken. However, when you get into someone else’s car for the first time, ask them if it is ok not to put on a seat belt. Ask if the other driver is ok with it; they would want to think over whether or not they are willing to go through a police pull-over because of the seat belt.

   I have had a few people who would meet me for the first time and sit up front and not put on their seat belts, even when I reminded or asked them if they could. Sure, they have a choice to say no when I ask them, but these people would actually get offended at me asking them about the seat belt. By the way, I hate putting on seat belts overall, and I never put on a seat belt when sitting in the back unless the drivers tells me to, which I also try to avoid if possible.

6. Leaving garbage in the car

   Many people think my car is a garbage trailer because my car is dark green. They will come in with food, cigarette wrappers, books and receipts, and they will usually leave something behind like napkins, lettuce, receipts, empty or even full soda drinks, etc. Why assume that someone is ok with the garbage that you yourself despise? Forget the rule “Do onto others that you want others to do to you.” Why would anyone want your garbage in their cars?

   I have had a few passengers come in my car and leave their full blown garbage behind, knowingly. They actually pick it up and put it on the back seat while they are leaving the car. Many people come in and leave a lot of their garbage as a memory tribute to me. The cute girl leaves me her McDonald’s bag as I might use it to carry my books and look at it to remember her. The smelly guy leaves the tomato so that I can smell it to remember how bad he smelled. The tall guy leaves his used napkins so I can clean my car with them and remember how he used to sneeze in them. The weird girl leaves her receipt for fast food in my car, every time, so that I can remember what she bought and so that I can remember the prices for different things that Jack in the Box sells.

7. Not locking the car doors when exiting the car

   Not all car doors have automatic locks. In fact, more cars have manual locks than automatic locks. That is why when you exit a car, make sure you get to lock at least your own door. If you go to someone’s house and exit from the back door while the house owner exits from the front and both of you are going to some other house, you will think about locking the back door, right? Try doing the same with the car, or at least try asking if the doors should be locked manually.

   I have had many people exit the car when we go to the movies or someplace else, and when I get back to the car, their side of the door was not locked. I have had many valuable belongings in the car many times, and each time the person simply asks “Ohh, you don’t have automatic locks?” If you see me opening the lock manually when I let you in the car, chances are the door locks are not automatic. If you do not see any automatic lock button on your side of the door or near the middle/center hand rest, chances are that the door locks are not automatic. I do not know of any car on this planet that has automatic locks and does not offer an automatic button to the passenger, so if you do not see an automatic lock button, the car most probably has manual locks. The only exception is a prison transportation vehicle. Unless I have a shotgun and keep pointing it at you while you wear an orange suit, chances are you are in my passenger car and the car does not have automatic door locks.

   It is a very good thing to ask when in doubt in such situations, unless you are ready to accept and replace anything that gets stolen or damaged.

14 things to avoid on your next ride with me - till the next part of this series at least

These are the 7 things to avoid or think about when getting a ride from someone you may not know. The reason I said before that these points apply to those people who are not your friends is to show that since you are not someone’s friend, you have to consider these points that may upset, annoy or frustrate the driver or the drivers’ friends in the same car, among other things.

What is your opinion about this? Have you experience any of these points yourself, either expectedly or unexpectedly, either as a driver, a passenger, or the person doing any of the above things?

Thanks for reading the 2nd part of the series. Please let me know if you wish for me to include any of your points in the grand finale of the series, with full credit to you of course. Stay tuned for the next part where many bizarre elements, like people other than the driver and the ride seeker, come into play to ensure that giving someone a car ride turns into a very dramatic experience.

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You yourself may have done something that you later thought to be inconsiderate for the driver, or you may have given a ride to someone not close to you and experienced some discomfort because of the behavior of your passenger. I have given rides to many people, many of whom have acted very strange or done weird things from time to time. Some things are small, while others can be big. Starting today, I would like to draw your attention to some of such things.

1. Putting your feet everywhere

   So many people do this, it seems that one day someone will call me abnormal for thinking this should not be the norm. Ask the driver if you can put your feet on things other than the floor mat. Otherwise, putting your feet on the seat, the dashboard or even on the actual gearbox which the driver uses to change gears might result in the driver thinking you are riding in an air balloon. Or maybe not, as even in the air balloon you have to do your best to keep your feet on the platform.

   I knew someone who used to take off his shoes or slippers and put his feet on my car dashboard, the stereo area or the gearbox. I tried to focus on other things when I realize that he was not wearing any socks and his feet smelled. However, when the topic of what to eat came around, it was hard not to notice the bad smell when all you want to do is smell chicken or cheese cake and instead all you can smell is feet that were in shoes without socks for hours. It is bad for the car, it is bad for others, it is bad for me, it is bad for you. If you want a ride, please keep your feet on the floor. I am giving you a free ride, and thus you do not need to pay me back with your feet smell.

2. Slamming doors or the trunk real hard

   These days, the right front passenger door of my car makes a kind of a hissing and flapping sound on the outside when I’m driving fast. The sound is coming from the side rubber panels that have ripped away from the actual door, thanks for many people getting a ride and then slamming the door of the car as if it will not close unless closed with full plutonic force. Also, people think that trunks are made out of unbreakable materials, or they try to shut the trunk hard to make sure drivers can feel that the trunk has been closed.

   The main guy who caused those passenger door rubber rods to flap out knows about it, and simply says “It was like that since the beginning“, when he himself said “Man, what is that sound? It wasn’t there before.” It is like giving me a gift in return for me giving you a ride: I give you a ride and you give me a damaged door.

3. Changing the radio station or audio volume without asking first

   This is not the rule that you see in stereotypical Hollywood movies where anyone who is black starts shooting if their car radio station is changed by someone else. If I am listening to a radio station, simply ask if you can change it or say you want to change it and then go ahead and change it if I do not object.

   I was listening to an important news last year about a bridge that collapsed in the Bay Area on a station I accidentally found through the channel search feature on my radio, and the person I was giving the ride to got into the car and immediately put on a preset I had set on the radio without asking or even thinking first. He just wanted to listen to random music. I could not find that new station again, and as expected the route I took to avoid that damaged bridge was crowded, resulting in a more than 2 hour drive that spanned around 7 miles.

4. Not closing car windows completely

   If I am driving and I can hear wind flushing through some lightly open window, I try to close that window. “You are hearing too much.” No, I want to close the window completely. “You must have really good hearing.” No, I want to close the window completely. “You are too paranoid.” No, I want to close the window completely. I am not sure how people can sit and ignore or not hear such a sound while assuming that they have closed the window completely. The sound that the air makes squeezing in through that small layer of opening is loud enough to reach the driver, me, all the way from the passenger side; how come the passenger does not care where that sound is coming from?

   In addition to hearing, you can feel the wind blowing in a little bit from the back, as the air gushes in and comes back to the front. So if you are hard at hearing or cannot hear, slowly you may get used to the change in the air in the car and realize that some window is not fully closed. If not, then I must have super powers in order to hear and feel that some window is not fully closed, and be able to pinpoint which window too. Similarly, if you open some window and I drop you, close the window and do not just leave it open. I am driving the car and unless I was part of the Fantastic Four, I have to lean at least a little bit in order to drive and roll up your window also. You did something. You undo it too when you are leaving.

5. Opening different car doors without asking first

   If you want to put your bags in the back, try to ask first. Simply walking up to a car you have never or rarely ridden in and trying to open the back door or the trunk or actually opening the trunk or the locks of the back doors without asking is impolite. It is like opening other people’s house doors to lodge the extra stuff you have. Maybe the driver has stuff that he/she can move, or maybe they would like you to put your stuff in some specific location. Asking first is better than opening the car openings without permission.

   I used to give a ride to a scary neighbor from time to time, and since day 1 he would come and start opening the doors in the entire car without asking and putting even his lightest of belongings, like his cap, in the back. A few times he would try to open the trunk and then tap hard on the trunk a few times, signaling me to open it. Make sure you pay me if I’m your slave driver. Or wait: are slaves supposed to be paid? Hmmm.

6. Making the driver come to you instead of you walking to the car

   What is with people who want car rides and do not walk towards the car when it is there for them? I have to drive all the way to align the car door to their feet in order for them to get in. Soon they will want me to open the door and carry them and put them into their seats also. It is as if the person getting the ride is doing the ride giver a favor.

   A person I was giving a ride to, regularly during some weeks last year, never used to walk to the car. If I had trouble getting past other cars, or if there were many pedestrians and I had to wait for those pedestrians to cross, this person would not walk over even if he was only less than 20 feet away. He used to stand there looking at my car, holding his back pack and waiting for my car door to align with his right foot. I should have charged him for the limo service that he was getting.

7. Putting your belongings everywhere without asking

   This goes along a little bit with the point of opening extra doors or the trunk to put your stuff in: if you have a lot of stuff, it is nice to ask where to put it. Putting dirty stuff on clean things or clean stuff on dirty things usually results in clean things getting dirty, and not dirty things getting cleaned.

   Someone I gave ride to long time ago would put his dirty, wet dirty bag onto the clean back seat or my books that were supposedly sitting quietly on the back seat. Once the book the bag sat on caused the first half of that small book to soak in the water. The reaction of the guy when I told him about it? “Ohhh, I guess those two don’t get along with each other.” Whether or not that made sense, I knew that cars and this guy did not get along: he did not deserve to be in a car.

7 things to avoid on your next ride with me - till the next part of this series at least

There you go. Those are the 7 things to avoid, when getting a car ride, for today. Stay tuned for the next time when 7 more horrible sins are revealed for your consideration, in case you wanted to annoy some driver while he or she was giving you a ride, or if you wanted to make sure I think agreeing to give you a ride was a bad idea.

Thanks for reading. Please let me know if you have experienced any of these points yourself, or if you have yourself done any of the above.

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1. You doubt a complete group of people immediately while trusting the other one completely

   Imagine me telling you that a certain group of people did something bad, and that you immediately come to the conclusion that those people are bad and that you should not expect anything better from them. Now imagine me telling you that some people from the groups that you associate with did something bad, and that you immediately say things along the lines of “Well, they must have had a reason” or “It was only them who did it” or “I am not sure, I need to know the whole story before I judge.” Chances are you discriminate against a certain group immediately, while thinking critically when it comes to judging your own group of people.

   When you hear about some Jews acting bad, you immediately agree that they are bad. When you hear about some Muslims acting bad, you immediately make sure that you try to ask for more proof or verification of the story, or you try not to judgment, opposite to what you did in the case of the Jews. The exact opposite story, interchanging the Muslims with the Jews and vice versa is a similar example. No matter what side you may be supporting, you discriminate against the other instantly and start passing judgments as if your opinions are thought our critically.

   When you hear about some militant groups in Africa molesting and raping young children in certain areas in order to spread more fear, you start concluding that they are less civilized. When you hear about some American soldiers molesting or raping girls in Japan and some other bases, you immediately start doubting the story, asking for more verification, and maybe even starting to pinpoint the bad things about the foreign country in which such reported incidents take place. You may call such a trait patriotism; in reality, it is racism and a form of stupidity thriving together.

2. Your pro-country mentality result in you hating a certain country or group of people

   This is a huge headache in many cases. Europeans hating the Americans, Americans hating the Europeans, Palestinians hating the Israelis, Israelis hating the Palestinians, Canadians hating Americans, Americans hating Canadians, Pakistanis hating Indians, Indians hating Pakistanis, Mexicans hating Americans, Americans hating Mexicans, North Koreans hating the Americans, Americans hating the North Koreans, Chinese hating Japanese, Japanese hating Chinese, Iranians hating the Americans, Americans hating the Iranians, etc etc etc. It is as if countries were built to hate each other. I realize they were.

   A small group of people from some hurt your country, and you are going to start hating the entire group of people or the majority of some country that those people are from because of that? Take your racist, narrow-minded mentalities somewhere else. I do not care. Anytime you automatically stereotype a majority or all people associated with a group of people because of your love for your own country, stay away from me, and instead impose your racist views on your family or your poor do-not-have-a-future-because-of-racist-parents children. Every country in this world is suffering, and every country in this world is inflicting harm on some other weaker country. Having a full circle of hating one another because of that only spreads racism.

3. Your pro-religion mentality results in you hating a certain country or group of people

   Christians against the Muslims, Muslims against the Christians, Buddhists against other religions, other religions against atheism and Buddhism, etc. How many times, every week or every minute of the day, do we see ourselves or someone else, either in real life or on TV, stereotype against a certain religion or someone or a group of people who try to follow a certain religion, or who may be directly or indirectly associated with a certain religion.

   If someone brings up something bad about a religion you do not know about, you agree that it is bad. If someone brings up something bad about your religion, you want to inquire more, you try to defend your religion, you try to criticize every critic of your religion. For you, reality does not revolve around what is happening. For you, reality revolves around your religion being right and you defending it. That mentality is the exact same as those people who go around the entire planet torturing innocent people because of religion: killing people in Middle East because of religion, burning mosques and churches in America, prosecuting all religious people in many countries, torturing non-religious people in several religious countries, etc. It is as if your religion exists in order to spread torture, and you exist in order to spread racism.

4. Your pro-ethnic mentality results in you hating certain ethnicities while completely favoring some over the other

   Try remembering the last time someone brought up some major ethnic discrimination event from years ago, in order to justify your own hatred or discrimination for others. Maybe try remembering the last time you yourself cited some major event of racism or hatred in order to justify your hatred against some group of people. Did you yourself suffer anything, literally, in person? How many Vietnamese people who complain about the Vietnam war were actually in the Vietnam and suffered in person, and are thus not enjoying life at all today? How many of the African American youth today which complains about being stereotyped were actually stereotyped and hurt in person in the 60’s and 70’s, since that is the era I keep hearing everyday from the mouth of many?

   How many people have actually seen a Jewish person steal money, a French act stupid and drunk, an Arab blow up something, a Canadian act illiterate of the world events, an American molest females in army bases in other countries, a Mexican steal your job literally, a Cuban bring drugs in his shoes, a black man listen to rap music while robbing your neighbor, and a white person running around screaming out “KKK FOR ALL” at the top of his or her lungs? There can be hundreds of more examples along the lines of what I just said. A lot of these things have happened, and a lot of these things are not happening. How can we look at the example of a few and stereotype everyone? You are going to stereotype everyone or even a large group of people, people you know nothing about, simply based on what some specific people have done?

   Your excuse of “I know not everyone is like that” is stupid, pathetic and immature, considering the fact that you are always stereotyping that certain ethnic group and that when you are cornered you resort to that defense. Most people who complain about discrimination against them, in order to justify their own discriminatory views, have not experienced any of the above, yet they will say “I know it has happened to others, so I know what is going on.” Really? If we used such mentality, then all the Chinese, Japanese, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Americans, Mexicans, Canadians, French, Europeans, Russians, Buddhists, and more would be hating everyone on this planet, because I know a lot of Japanese, Koreans, Muslims, Christians, Anti-semitic-yet-do-not-realize-it, Europeans, Americans, Russians, and other people who have suffered physically in reality and people who simply cry on the bandwagon because someone else in the distant suffered or their great great grandfathers suffered.

   “Avoid saying such things which stereotype and hurt other people and their image“, I say. “Why don’t you mind your own god damn business or get lost.” Awesome mentality you have. Keep saying things that mingle with other people’s lives and business, but when others tell you to not say such things, you tell others to mind their own business. That is some amazing mature mentality you have.

   Similarly, hating some ethnicity or feeling discriminated simply because your ancestors suffered does not mean you suffered. Suffering the after effects is one thing, and not suffering anything and being genetically linked to people who suffered, while enjoying life, is not equivalent to suffering yourself. There are many of us who have actually suffered in our lifetime more than you and your ancestors combined. Trying to attract the sympathy of others, by playing the victims game, in order to justify your own hatred when in reality you have suffered nothing is stupid. Such a logic does not equivilate to you being justified in hating others.

5. You cannot help yourself from making certain ethnic or religious jokes which completely stereotype and hurt others, while you cannot make certain jokes about some ethnicities or religion

   Ever hear the joke about the sex-addict and stupid French woman? Ever hear the joke about the terrorist Arab? Ever hear the joke about the miser Jew? Ever hear the joke about the stupid Japanese? Ever hear the joke about the illiterate American redneck? Chances are, you may have heard all of these jokes, but you may not be comfortable with all of them. If you do joke about some ethnicities but cannot joke about some other specific ethnicities, you may be racist. Simply joking about every ethnicity does not make you an anti-Racist; it just shows that you hate many more ethnicities than a typical racist person.

   There is a difference between joking and not meaning things and realizing when it may hurt people and when it may only be a joke, and joking and hurting people and claiming that you did not intend to hurt anyone. If you are not good at realizing when it will hurt someone, stop joking.

   You are comfortable at making fun of French or the Germans people but not the British? You are comfortable making fun of Buddhists or atheists but not the Christians? You are comfortable making fun of the Chinese or Koreans but not the Japanese? You are comfortable making fun of Muslims or the Arabs but not the Jews? You are comfortable making fun of Colombians or Cubans but not the Mexicans? You are comfortable making fun of people with light colored skins but not dark skin? You are comfortable making fun of anyone else except anything you try to associate with yourself or a group that the society around you tries to associate with? Poor you, you stereotypical racist moron. Your jokes are ways for you to be scared of being racist and be a racist at the same time, since your supposed-”it’s a joke“-disclaimer can probably make someone not beat you up for being stupid.

6. You stereotype all the time, and you try to hide behind jokes or certain disclosures.

   This is a trend that is slowly gaining more acceptance and ridicule at the same depending, depending on different people. Repeatedly making jokes about someone’s ethnicity, religion, lack of religion, lack of ethnicity, their background or anything else, which hurts someone, means you do not care about that person. That also means your jokes exist solely to make racist and discriminatory remarks, and that you are hiding behind your jokes to get away with your inability to not hate someone directly or indirectly because of things outside their control, like their background, as if someone was completely wrong with it in all situations.

   When you know a joke can hurt or simply offend someone, as to why you are making that joke in context to someone who is involved in the conversation or joke with you, there is no point in saying “I’m sorry” afterwards. Why be sorry when you are continuously doing whatever you are doing anyhow?

Racism Rules! Literally.

These are the 6 signs that show the racism in you, me and others. These are also the 6 signs you can use to observe others around you and see whether or not someone exhibits some forms of hate or discrimination against some person or a group of people. Ideas and feelings of racism, without actually experiencing anything bad ourselves, are all around us. Even when we experience something ourselves directly, the idea of racism or hating a group of people only increases or takes turns. It can be very hard to simply keep such feelings inside of us.

I do not care what religion you have, what country you are from, what ethnicity you fantasize about, and what color you love blending in with. Treat me the way I act and am, and I will treat you in the same manner. Act racist around me, and I will simply realize that I wasted time around a loser like you. It’s your life; you can live in your small little racist bubble and feel all powerful and righteous. We both know what you really are. All I care about are actual actions, feelings and experiences in life.

Every point mentioned above can be observed as having different levels of dedication. Some people commit to some or all of the above points all the time, while others resort to it from time to time. Still, some people simply say some extreme things without actually being racist in order to make a point. However, if the listener or other people do not realize that you made a point, you have actually hurt the other person. What is the point of not being racist when your actions are hurting others as if you were racist? How about not being a racist and making sure whatever you do does not hurt others either?

Thank you for reading. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go to near an Indian owned 7-eleven to a Boba place owned by Koreans where only Asian workers are cashiers and only Mexicans make Boba in the back room, with the only non-Asian customers at night being white kids who read comics and where a black person will almost never be a customer. Or maybe I’ll go eat at Jack-in-the-Box next to it where I can focus more on getting curly fries than on the ethnic or background segregation of the drive-thru people or the people making the food. Who said fast food places were good for nothing?

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Following are 10 reasons for which you can avoid American Airlines, as of 2007. I am going to avoid American airlines for these very reasons, and a few more. The list below is not supposed to be in a chronological order: I will go back and forth in my trip to show you different aspects of how American Airlines operates, and how their operations affected me. This is also a way to tell you of my trip: you will find out where I was going and some brief details as to why I was traveling, among maybe a few other things.

1. Their in-flight food service is bad

   There used to be a day when you could eat all you want on a plane. “It’s ok, I will eat on the plane“, I used to think. Now, while the top executives reap in millions, customers are not served food so that the airline can save money. American Airlines only gives out a few soft drinks on most flights.

   American Airlines does allow you to bring your own food, but nowhere is this policy about bringing your own food printed on tickets or mentioned on their website. Only when you are in the terminal or sitting inside the plane do you slowly find out that people can bring their own food. The hunger at that time can drive you into thinking “If I take one or two of her Oreo cookies while she is sleeping, will she notice when she wakes up?” Wondering about that question enabled me to survive the journey while being extremely hungry.

2. Their baggage care and service is bad

   American Airlines lost my luggage when I was flying from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Then, after more than a day when the luggage was found, I found out that my luggage was missing items that were inside it. I had around $1000 worth of 3 items and a gift from someone that went missing. Not only that, my luggage had a few things and garments that belonged to some other passenger: noticeable, a man and a woman.

   After 3 weeks of phone tags and giving me an investigation numbers, American Airlines sent me papers to fill out to tell them the exact same story. Hopefully they can find my things. Here is the funny thing: American Airlines did not take the items from me that did not belong to me, telling me to hold on to them and someone will get them from me. It has been 4 weeks and I have someone else’s trousers, bra and a few other things. I keep forgetting everyday to drive to the airport and throwing them in front of the American Airlines baggage counter. Throwing them into the trash seems like a bad thing to do.

3. Their prices are bad

   American Airlines supposedly has the largest fleet, and still they charge more than others. Their planes are usually full. One good thing though: they have deals with different airlines, so you can probably find a good time to fly, most of the time, if you are willing to pay the price. Even with all the money coming in, they still complain of losses and other things. Where is all the money going?

   All of the money is definitely not going back into the service they provide, that is for sure. Nowadays they do not offer anything extra, serving only some soft drinks and water. Even when you ask for water 3 times on a 6 hour flight they make a weird face as if you were a kidnapped refugee who was not supposed to ever ask for water.

4. Their in-flight entertainment service is bad

   No TV, no audio jack, nothing. They do not even carry magazines or newspapers on both short or mid-long flights anymore. I remember the early 90’s, flying on several Asian, European, Middle East and a probably-then-Russian airline, and they all had TV’s, audio jacks with local radio, and lots of newspapers and magazines.

   Yet, American Airlines does not offer any of those. You just sit there, bored to death. I guess American Airlines can say “We are in the transportation business, not in the entertainment business.” If you want to avoid boredom, bring your own laptop and see if you can use it while in the air, or fly any of the several other airlines in America, like jetBlue or Virgin America. I tried to play text tags with Valerie while on the plane.

5. In my experience, majority of their staff’s attitude is bad

   Was it just my experience, or does the American Airline staff going from Texas to Alabama not greet or say bye to anyone who is not “white” or “black“? Was it just my experience, or does the American Airline staff going from Alabama to Texas not greet or say bye to anyone who is not “white” or “black“?

   Similarly, at the baggage claim counter in San Francisco, the staff acts as if they were kidnapped and forced to work there, and that they are letting out their frustration on the customers. Sure, when you work long hours you may probably be the person who bites others, but that is probably one of the exact reasons why American Airlines has staff with bad attitude: they do not hire more people to replace the already moody people. Again, where is all the money going?

   How about the attitude of the minority of their staff? I can say that ranged from no moodiness to being very happy to help. This is a very small minority from my experience. There was this very serious old guy who was working near the counter when I was checking in to fly from San Francisco. He was very serious and kept yelling at me to “not go to that counter” or “go to that counter.” Even though he was serious, he started asking me about my flight and started yelling at the top of his voice “You young person, you gonna miss your flight, hurry and don’t be lazy! Run to the gate. Don’t walk, RUN RUN or you cry!”

   It was like me being scolded in front of everyone at the airport as I was the youngest and everyone thought I had upset him or something. A young girl started asking her mother “Mommy, did this guy do something wrong? Why is he [the guy] yelling at him [me]?” Well, since I was younger than most people at that time the old guy sincerely wanted to help, thinking I was not aware of how serious it was for me to hurry. If I had not listened to him and had not run to the security check point and then to the gate, I would have missed my flight as within minutes of me passing through the security check point, dozens and dozens of people passengers started pouring in, and very long lines started forming.

   I prefer this old guys’ attitude and willingness to sincerely care and help instead of all the fake and forced smiles and serious faces that I saw on majority of the faces of American Airlines staff, who did not even care whether or not I am going to get my lost baggage or items back, let alone caring about me missing my flight. If that young girl ever finds this site, she is probably going to grow up to tell all her future kids “I saw Bes getting yelled at, hahaha! Hurry up or you will get yelled at too by someone!“

6. Their “shortage of staff” reason causes massive delays for customers after landing

   When I landed at San Francisco, Los Angeles, then San Francisco, Dallas, Birmingham, Dallas, and finally San Francisco again, the plane had to wait a long time before being able to connect or get near any terminal, each and every time at every airport. Sometimes the wait was as long as 40 minutes. We just sat there, on the runway, waiting for the American Airline or any other staff to prepare a gate for our arrival.

   The pilot gave this as the reason: “Due to shortage of staff in the entire airline industry, we have no one to work on our terminal gate, just like other airlines, and thus we have to wait for a while. Sorry about that.” Sure, it is not the pilot’s fault as he probably has to read the lines that American Airlines tells him to read, but I have rarely experienced such delays, after landing and being stuck sitting inside the plane, on 4 other airlines that I have flown at least 50 times last year alone within and outside California.

7. The probability of accommodations for missed or possible flights is very bad, even though American Airlines promises otherwise

   I wanted to meet Valerie going on my 2nd trip. When I was booking my flight, I called American Airlines over the phone and after hours of negotiation, I was told to fly to Dallas in Texas early in the morning, and to try to see if there was an available seat ona ny flight going to Missouri. I was told that there were usually no full flights going from Texas to Missouri, and that if I asked all the that went from Texas to Missouri, I would surely find something to take me to Missouri as part of a connecting flight that stayed for several hours in Missouri, and then onto Alabama.

   Well, I arrived in Dallas and realized that American Airlines staff there had a thing for beggars. They wanted me to beg. I reasoned, I pleaded. They kept telling me all flights are full and that even if they were not full they could not change my flight to have an extra connection. I told them I was “guaranteed” over the phone that if there was any seat availability I would be able to get it, specially I had paid extra to find a later flight to Alabama just in case I could not find any connecting flight to Missouri. “You would have to talk to the person who told you that over the phone.” Such answers seemed typical of American Airlines. After spending about 7 hours trying to get a connecting flight, I gave up, and flew to Alabama on the last flight for the day. Sorry Valerie for making you drive and keeping you waiting!

8. If you get your luggage but are missing items that were inside your luggage, American Airlines’ solution tactics are bad

   When my luggage was missing, I told the baggage claim counter at San Francisco International airport [SFO] about it. They filed down everything in the computer. Then, a day later, early morning, they called and asked the same information again. I told them the information and they said they have completely different information from what I was telling them. So I had to retell them the whole information. I kept asking them how they could mess up the information, and the lady on the phone kept repeating “You would have to ask those people you told about it.” Great answer, American Airlines. That answer is one of the worst examples of customer service.

   When my bag arrived after more a day, after midnight, I found that it was missing stuff and it had some guy and a girls’ stuff in it, mixed with whatever of my stuff had survived the journey, as I told you earlier. I filed a report about it on the spot, and called and filed another report about it over the phone within 4 hours.

   After 4 days, while I was on my trip in Alabama, I called to ask about my missing stuff from my baggage that had already been found. I was told that American Airlines had no information about me filing such a claim. I was told to contact the baggage service counter at the airport where I had landed, at the time the baggage went missing. That meant I had to talk in person to the people working at the American Airlines baggage counter in San Francisco. I could not fix the problem from Alabama. That was not a bad thing, as hanging out with Ronald in Alabama turned out to be more than a great experience.

   After I got back from my trip and immediately when I landed at the airport, I filed the report again by talking to the American Airlines baggage counter in San Francisco, who also said they had no information about me filing such a claim, and that the people who were present on the day I had originally filed a claim were not working that day. I was told that American Airlines would send me a single paper in the mail that I only needed to sign and send back. When I got the papers after 2 weeks, I found out that they were claim papers, where I had to fill out everything from scratch. I even had to report what items I was missing. Why was I told to file my claim in all those other steps and departments then?

9. The communication between different departments of American Airlines is bad

   The American Airlines phone support did not know that I had filed a claim for lost luggage in person at the American Airlines baggage claim counter at San Francisco Airport. The lost and found baggage warehouse of American Airlines, about 4 miles from the San Francisco airport, did not know about my claim of missing items even though the baggage claim department over the phone did later on. The American Airlines phone support was not aware of me filing a claim for missing items from my lost luggage that had been found, and about some other passengers’ items in my bag. The American Airlines baggage claim department at San Francisco airport was not aware of me filing a claim for missing items from my luggage, which was previously lost, which I had previously filed at the American Airlines lost and found baggage warehouse and also over the phone with the American Airlines lost and found baggage.

   Confused? Imagine what I was going through, running around for almost 2 days from my first flight so that I could recover my lost stuff and baggage before my 2nd flight to Texas only 2 days later.

   I contacted the American Airlines phone support, phone baggage claim, headquarters over the phone, San Francisco American Airlines baggage counter on the phone, San Francisco American Airlines baggage counter in person, the American Airlines lost and found baggage warehouse over the phone, and the American Airlines lost and found baggage warehouse in person. I did not contact these departments on my own. I was told in each case by American Airlines staff to contact these departments to file the claims for the different headaches that American Airlines had brought to me and my traumatized luggage.

   Thus, I followed the proper procedure that I was told, and even after contact them on all those levels, I was sent through all the loops where different parts of the loop did not know I was doing things the loop itself had told me. Now, I have been sent papers to file my claim and start all over again.

10. If you believe American Airlines advertisements, your expectations may be destroyed because of reality, which is not that good

    There is probably no doubt that if all you want is to fly and you do not run into any issues and you do not want any extra service and you do not run into any issues and you fly from less popular airports, American Airlines may do a better job that many other airlines because of the number of flights they have and the number of cities they operate. However, anything more than the most basic, and you can run into issues.

    You know those ads they show on TV, which show the American Airlines staff remembering all the customer names and talking to them like friends? Well, I met and talked with at least 6 people at least 7 times, and every time each of them would treat me as if they saw me for the first time. No one remembered anyone’s name, even the names of passengers at San Francisco terminal who were yelling at American Airlines baggage staff that they had been “waiting for 6 hours to find my luggage, as I have no clothes and nothing to go to my hotel with, and you keep asking me the same information!” Where are all the smiling and caring people they show on American Airlines ads?

Well, that is it for now. These are the 10 reasons I will try to avoid American Airlines in the future unless I book at the last minute and/or American Airlines is the only airline to fly to the city I want to go to. Can you think of more points?

What do you think? Have you ever experienced anything similar?

Thank you for reading

I really, really appreciate you reading all of this. I hope some of this information can be helpful in some manner to you, should you run into any issues with American Airlines.

Thank you.

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1. E-mail

   I remember an era during the 90’s when signing up for dozens of e-mail accounts was cool. Having so many e-mail accounts did nothing; sending an e-mail was still sending an e-mail. People back then had Hotmail [now called Windows Live Mail], Coldmail, Yahoo Mail, Mail.com, ICQ mail, and AOL mail. Now, people also have Gmail, self-hosted e-mails on personal domains, and more. Having more e-mail accounts was once considered a status. Now, even though many people do not realize that each existing and additional e-mail account can bring in its own unique benefits and downsides, more and more people still keep opening new e-mail accounts daily.

   Opening e-mail accounts is one of the longest lasting online trends ever, and e-mails are still one of the most widely used online tools, if not the most widely used online tool.

2. Guestbooks

   This trend also started more solidly in the 90’s, and continued all the way until the first year or so after 2000 under the original name “guestbook“, after which the name continued and continues to lose its popularity to other terms and concepts which have been derived from it. The term guestbook came from the actual guestbooks and the same term used to describe books at places like museums, where visitors could leave comments and remarks for others to see, whether anonymously or with any detail. Online, in many cases, the guestbook became more popular than e-mail during its strong day, not in number of users but in actual fame, among many people who had guestbooks like Bravenet Guestbooks.

   Guestbooks paved the way for public comments that we see on blogs today. Overall, Guestbooks are still around in their pure form and in some evolved forms like online blog comments. Original, pure guestbooks themselves have lost a lot of their original popularity. In many cases, guestbooks have lost popularity and ground to the very concepts that were derived from them, like comments and forums.

3. Online diaries, blogs and their variants

   Online diaries were the sites that brought blogs into existence. Technically, blogs are nothing more than diaries. Of course, the concept of blogging has been commercialized and now online diaries, the very sites that started it all, are considered immature and not worthy by many of the blogs that aim to make money through non-personal content. I know many people who had and have different online diaries for different reasons. Many people would simply abandon one online diary for the other, as the concept of deleting online accounts was not considered as important by many people in the mid-90’s.

   Among the other things that online diaries have evolved into, blogs are the new normal craze now. Many people get more excited about having a blog instead of getting excited of what they want to achieve and what they can achieve with a blog. Online diaries have evolved into many things including blogs, networking sites, and more. LiveJournal can probably be considered an evolved example of personal diaries.

   Blogs are thriving, and are continuing to get stronger everyday. According to Technorati, more than 70 millions online blogs existed as of April 2007.

4. Chat and instant messaging accounts

   Instant messaging started mainly during the 2nd half of the 90’s, and to this day is very popular. Instant messaging accounts allow people to instantly chat with someone online. In the 90’s, people used to lure their friends into using ICQ to keep in touch. Slowly, Yahoo Messenger, AIM and MSN Messenger [now called Windows Live Messenger] brought more popularity to the entire instant messaging arena.

   Instant messaging itself got popular because of Internet Relay Chat [IRC]. IRC allowed people to chat instantly and live, and thus allowed them to communicate a bit faster than e-mail, if the people involved were online and using an IRC program at the same time. IRC evolved into different kinds of instant messaging, and instant messaging itself evolved and divided into voice chats, webcam conferences, live chat via e-mail accounts such as in Gmail, and more. In some ways, IRC itself can be considered an evolution of e-mail.

   Instant messaging accounts and online chats are also thriving and getting more popular everyday. At this moment, for the first time in internet history, a growing number of online people are using instant messaging more than e-mail.

5. Networking sites, which include social networking sites

   The latest, youngest and biggest craze right now is to open a social networking account. MySpace, twitter, facebook, linkedin, Bebo and many other networking and social networking sites came out with a big bang at different times during the last 5 years. As of last week, MySpace had over 200 million accounts. If it is assumed that each of those 200 millions accounts is owned by a unique individual, 200 millions MySpace members are almost 1/3rd the size of the entire U.S. population. Many people have multiple accounts on different networking sites, and many people simply delete their online networking accounts so that they can start afresh with new accounts.

   Networking sites are very strong right now, attracting more and more members everyday. At the same time, networking sites are also in their infancy sage. Social networking sites are the least experienced players in the entire online arena compared to the other 4 types [e-mail, guest books, online diaries and instant messaging accounts]. In many ways, networking sites can be considered children of concepts like Yahoo Groups and the original Usenet groups, now part of Google groups.

   The trend of opening networking sites in huge numbers started recently, and is in full force right now, gaining more momentum. It is happening and evolving live as you read this.

There you have it. Listed above are 5 trends of opening up 5 different kinds of accounts. These 5 services have had a historical trend of attracting a crowd that focused hysterically on opening new accounts. E-mail is the oldest and longest running of such trends, and networking sites are the youngest of the bunch.

Can you think of any trend from the above or any other trend you yourself may have been, or are, involved in? Do you have any questions or comments? Please let me know.

Thanks for reading.

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Opening a business with a friend can have the following 3 random benefits and downsides.

3 random benefits

1. More honest and open communication about issues
2. More chances of solving business problems as if they were friendship problems
3. Fewer chances of being taken advantage of by the other person in the business

3 random downsides

1. Friendship can get affected because of the existence of money and personal interest in the business
2. Existence of friendship can result in one person not taking the business or business issues seriously
3. Friends may not realize if their honest, friendly communication is satisfactory enough for the business to work properly

Opening business with a reliable non-friend contact

Similarly, opening a business with a reliable non-friend contact can have the following 3 random benefits and downsides.

3 random benefits

1. More formal and effective communication
2. More chances of both parties addressing different issues openly so that they can be satisfied, resulting in more issues coming to the spotlight quickly
3. Professional relation with the business partner means both partners will know exactly what to expect, in contrast to the confusion that may result because of a friendship

3 random downsides

1. More chances of being taken advantage of if one partner does not feel fully satisfied
2. Less chances of talking openly about one’s emotions and feelings about the business
3. Fewer chances of solving a business problem on a personal level

A business with a close friend or a reliable non-friend contact?

So, what do you think? Do you feel more comfortable with the idea of opening a business with a friend or with a reliable contact who is not yet your friend?

Please let me know what you think or if you have any questions, thank you.

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[Update: September 9th, 2007 - 2:00 pm PST] For this question, Stacee in the comments for this question asked if the friend was reliable also. I have updated the above question and added the following line in the 2nd paragraph of this article: “Last, imagine that the non-friend contact has shown reliability in other business situations, and that you do not know about the business reliability of your close friend; you only know that your friend is your close friend.” Thank you Stacee. [/ end of update]

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1. Many taxi drivers honk at everything

   You did not start driving the very millisecond the light turned green? The taxi driver will honk at you. You slowed down by one mile and are still over the speed limit? How dare you: the taxi driver behind you will honk at you. You are waiting at a pedestrian walk and letting some people walk by in front of you? Boohoo! You deserve a honking.

   Honking, or using the horn, can cause a lot of stress or anxiety in others. It is a perceived sign in most cases that our action is not right, and thus many people simply become nervous and upset because of being honked at for something they cannot identify.

2. Taxi drivers drive too fast

   You get scared while driving at 80 mph in a 75 mph zone. However, many taxi drivers feel that you driving at 80 mph in a 75 mph zone is too slow. Speed up! Speed limits were meant to be broken. Your car comes with the capability to drive at up to 120 mph for a reason.

   Driving fast and having an even faster drivers right behind you can cause stress. I see many taxi drivers sometimes driving less than 50 inches from fast cars in front of them. I am guessing everyone has an emergency of some kind, like the emergency to avoid slow driving.

3. Taxi drivers suddenly switch lanes without showing any sign or an indicator

   Try changing lanes without showing any indicator and coming in front of a fast taxicab. You will probably be honked at, like by the taxi drivers in point #1 above. However, many of the same taxi driver will change lanes without showing any indicator or sign.

   Last year a Ford taxicab driver changed lanes and came right in front of me, less than 50 or 60 inches from my car, while we are both driving at the speed limit. He did not show any indicators, and thus I had to hit the brakes and slow down myself, with cars behind me hitting their brakes also. The car right behind me could not slow down on time and I got rear-ended, with the car behind me getting read-ended also. Insurance covered me 100% through various ways because it was not my fault, but the people behind me were not that fortunate. The taxi driver who played a major role in the entire accident didn’t have to feel any stress or waste any time at all, since he kept driving and was never caught.

4. There is usually no stop sign, no speed bump, and no respect for a non-paying walking pedestrian life for many taxi drivers

   You stop at a stop sign. Many taxi drivers only slow down at a stop sign. You slow down over a speed bump. Many taxi drivers do their best to see how high they can fly while speeding over a speed bump. You stop when someone is crossing the street, even if the light is green and they are crossing illegally. Many taxi drivers keep driving at the same speed when they see a pedestrian walking.

   I was crossing the road near a movie theatre earlier this year, at a stop sign. A taxi driver was approaching and did not slow down at all for the stop sign, where I was crossing. I had to run to save my life while the speeding taxicab passed without stopping at the stop sign. The taxicab missed me by the length of my jacket’s end: the end of my jacket touched the right side mirror of the taxicab and I felt a small pull by my jacket in the direction where the taxicab was headed. The risks Bes has to take to watch movies are just countless.

5. For many taxi drivers, no space is too small, and no opportunity is too risky

   Taxi drivers can be great risk takers. If they see a small opening between two cars, they will try to squeeze through. If they see an opportunity to pass someone by changing lanes while other nearby speeding cars are approaching in those same lanes, the taxi drivers will still change lanes and force the other drivers to slow down.

   The small scratch to both cars while the taxi driver tries to squeeze through? $120. The brakes that die because a taxi driver suddenly jumps into your lane without giving you much space to avoid the taxicab? $900+. The accidents that happen because of some taxi drivers doing whatever they please because they think they have more rights over the road simply because they earn money driving? A few lives and broken bones. The terrifying look on your face when you see such taxi drivers jump right in front of you and the evil happy look on those taxi drivers’ faces? Priceless.

A personal example: when I was a taxi driver

A few years ago a friend of mine who owned a private taxicab took me around with him while giving his customers rides. My friend would tell his passengers, or customers, that he was teaching me how to drive a taxicab. I was only hanging out with him as he did not have enough time to hang out with me by not driving a taxicab and still earn a living. I did help my friend a few times for free, by driving around his customers while he had some emergencies.

While driving the taxicab, I noticed that many customers would like me, and many would get upset because of my untypical driving. Some upset customers would give me advice on how to be aggressive to everyone on the road, whether or not it was warranted, so that I could get to destinations with a little bit more aggressiveness. It was interesting to see many customers advocating the harsh driving of taxicabs, in order to get to a destination faster even when there was no need to hurry. Maybe being inside a taxicab and having the taxi driver allow control of the taxicab mentally prompted many customers to become more aggressive. I soon realized that an angry taxi driver could be more threatening to a walking or a driving murderer on the road than the police itself.

Benefits of living in the Bay Area - you can avoid taxis and love the subways

As for me, one of the benefits of living in the Bay Area in Northern California is to use the BART subway systems, and not have to worry about taxi drivers and their time schedules. Of course, if I ever notice a taxi driver driving normally or if I am in a taxicab and the driver is driving slowly and following the rules while being considerate to people, I wonder if I have finally found Travis Bickle.

You can try to run me over, but you can’t stop me from getting to my movie on time! Long live the previews!

So, there you have it: 5 random ways many taxi drivers cause a lot of stress for other people on or around the road, and some of my direct and indirect personal experiences. Can you think of any other points? Do you have any questions or comments about the above points or this topic in general?

Thank you for reading.

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Following are 3 good and 3 bad points, chosen randomly, of having the same contacted listed in more than one of the instant messaging or e-mail accounts you have have.

Pros of having the same contact on more than one e-mail and instant messaging account:

1. Talk via a different account if the primary account is not working
2. Talk advantage of different accounts for different things - one for texting, one for webcam, etc
3. Separate business and personal communication with the same person

Cons of having the same contact on more than one e-mail and instant messaging account:

1. Make communication more confusing with a person by having too many unnecessary channels of communication
2. Have too many duplicate contacts across your instant messaging and e-mail accounts
3. Harder to keep track of all the communication through different accounts between you and the other person

So, do you have any contact who is listed on more than one of your instant messaging or e-mail accounts? Is there a reason for that? Do you think it is a good or a bad thing?

Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think.

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Viewing online and offline friends as being equal can be different than treating online and offline people equally. I know some people who prefer online friends to offline friends. I know some people who prefer offline friends to online friends. For me, online and offline friends can be equal.

I have a personal preference of wanting to move online friends a little bit into the offline realm, whether it be through face to face interaction, phone calls, text messaging via cell phones or even postal mail. That way, I have both online and offline friends and I can treat them equally and consider both to be important, while preferring the offline world a bit more than the online world, regardless of whether the friend was originally an online or an offline friend.

3 random things online and offline friends can offer

To help you figure out the answer to this question more, I am listing below 3 random things that online and offline friends can offer to you in their respective worlds.

3 random things online friends can offer

1. More privacy
2. More space
3. More ways to listen to you - you can send an e-mail or an online message to a friend anytime, even if they are not online

3 random things offline friends can offer

1. More powerful interaction
2. More physical privacy
3. More powerful ways to listen to you

So, do you consider your online and offline friends to be equally important? If you do not have online or offline friends, would you consider them to be equally important if you ever did have both online and offline friends, or would you prefer one over the other?

Please let me know. Also, if you have more things in mind that I can add to the above “3 random things” lists, please let me know and I will add them to this list and give you credit. Thank you.

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[update September 2nd, 11:35 am PST]
Simonne, in the first comment and answer to this question, said that “The online-offline split is not very clear.” I have added 2 sentences to the end of the 2nd paragraph in this article to briefly explain the difference between the online and offline friends I am referring to. The 2 sentences added are “Also, by an online friend, I am referring to friends we make solely in the online world. By an offline friend, I am referring to friends we make solely in the offline world.” Thank you Simonne.
[end of September 2nd, 11:35 am PST update]

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1. Laundry

   If you share any laundry machine with any of your neighbors, you can easily annoy them. Leave your clothes in the washer or the dryer, and do not take them out for hours. The next person who wants to do laundry will probably check repeatedly, every half hour or so, to see if you picked up your clothes.

   I currently have many laundry options, including shared laundry with a few neighbors. I decided to do laundry while talking to a friend in Europe. After washing my clothes, I noticed someone else’s clothes in the dryer. I waited for that neighbor to come and pick up the clothes. After almost 4 hours of waiting, I knocked at my neighbor’s door and asked politely if she could help. She had just woken up from sleep, sincerely apologized and took out the clothes from the dryer. That was fine and really nice of her. I told my friend all of this, and he said I should blog about it. This very post is because of that friend and that situation.

   I put my clothes in the dryer for 70 minutes and told my friend I was going to take a nap. I woke up very late, about 2 hours after the dryer had finished drying. I went to the laundry room and noticed the same neighbor waiting for me to take out my clothes from the dryer so she could put her newly washed clothes in it. In my friend’s view, I became the very inconvenience for a person that I may have felt only a few hours ago from that very person. That was a good example of how sometimes a random thing, like sleeping a bit longer than usual, can result in others being inconvenienced even though we did not intend to. When I talked to my friend again and told him what had ha