Please drive carefully: It's my birthday

Dear friends and family,

If I could have one present for my 23rd birthday on Tuesday, it wouldn't be a Nintendo Wii or a Playstation 3. What I want for my birthday is a little courtesy on the road.

So maybe the Playstation and Nintendo are more exciting and expensive (hint!), but inconsiderate drivers are just as amusing, only in a dangerous way. As I made my way over Snoqualmie Pass Thanksgiving weekend, some driver drove inches behind my car in the hopes I would speed up. But I couldn't drive faster because some slow driver a few cars ahead of me was holding up traffic. The driver behind me switched into the right lane, sped up and cut me off. His revenge for my "slow" driving was to drop ten miles below the speed limit for a couple miles, then speed up to 85 without warning and disappear into oblivion.

The point is, he didn't get any further ahead and chose to put himself and other drivers in danger. It was a good thing the roads were clear.

With so many impatient drivers on the road, I wonder if those warm and fuzzy feelings from Thanksgiving and the holidays actually carry over to the rest of the year. My hunch is, no. In fact, my guess is they don't carry over a day. Case in point: Black Friday and the day after Christmas. The Playstation craze, which started less than a week before Thanksgiving and included more violence than the games themselves.

You want to run somebody over just so you can be first to fork over $600 for a game system or get a great deal on socks? That's your choice. But please drive safely on the way to the store.

I'm not going to plead innocent in committing evil driving misdeeds. If someone makes me mad enough on the road, I'll try to get back at them. This can be just as dangerous. But with the holidays and my birthday approaching fast, now would be a good time to call a truce. After all, what better present could one ask for than a car that remains un-pummeled?

Please remember to drive carefully. If not, please buy me a Nintendo Wii or Playstation 3.

Chrystal Doucette is the Columbia Basin Herald health and education reporter. She is watching out for her health and the education of drivers to reach her 24th birthday.