Public Service Announcement for the Day.

Since I woke up at 5:30 this morning I've had lots of ideas for good posts today, most of them socially conscious and holiday-oriented, but really all I can think to mention right now is TURN SIGNALS.

People, the car manufacturers put those little sticks next the wheel for a reason. Please use them. Not only are they functional and safe, in that they alert those around us to your intentions BEFORE you slide across 4 lanes of heavy traffic, they are also a courtesy. It's like saying, "Excuse me, I'm going to cut you off now" rather than just cutting in, or "I'm coming to a complete stop in the middle of traffic because I'm going to turn, not because I'm a complete idiot, and I'd like you not to rear-end me."

I won't go into the advantages of using turn signals when the person you're cutting off is behind you rather than next to you, or the idiocy wasted effort of putting on the turn signal when you're already in the turn lane ... I figure if people just started using them in the first place, that would be a start. We'll work on the finer points later.