Why I blinked my headlights at you

I drive to work very early, when it is still dark. On my way in, I see a lot of idiots propelling thousands of pounds of steel, plastic, rubber, and gasoline down the road, weaving in and out of dozens of wives, husbands, parents, and children.

One particular category of idiots feels it doesn't need to signal lane-changes.

When this category does it in front of me, at night I'll blink my headlights off and on repeatedly; during the day, I'll flash my high-beams.

I assume these folks aren't among the nations brightest, so I'm sure some of them (if they notice it at all) dully wonder, "Huh?" Or something less articulate.

And I've always pictured that if they addressed the "Huh?" to me in person, I'd respond:

"I noticed you lunging and careening from lane to lane without signalling. I figured there could only be one of five reasons for this:

1. You're drunk or on drugs
2. You're falling asleep
3. Your car's turn-signal is malfunctioning
4. You are unaware of or don't care about the law requiring the user of turn-signals
   
5. You are unaware or don't care that there are actually other cars driven by precious, irreplaceable human beings on the road with you
   

"In any of these cases, it seems to me that my flicking my lights is a polite, low-impact way of saying, 'Dude, either wake up, sober up, or wise up — whichever applies.' See, because these people you're so mindless of are my neighbors, or they could be my friends, or they could be my wife, my son, my daughter. And I want you to bring your game up."

This may seem peevish to you — especially if you drive a white car, in which case evidently your turn signal was disabled at the factory, or you feel that none of the laws of God, nature, or man apply to you. But I actually do have a deeper reason. I open it up a bit further here, but to approach it from a different angle, here 'tis:

When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness. (Proverbs 11:10)

The blessing of upright men exalts a town,
But by the mouth of wicked men it is torn down (Proverbs 11:11, my translation)

And one from the brilliant John Adams:

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.

See, I know not signaling lane-changes is, on the universal scale of things, relatively inconsequential. But honoring such laws is part of the fabric that holds society together. As spirituality and morality unravel, the fabric unravels. The liberal answer is to make more and more and more and more laws.

But in my mind, about 90% of those laws would be unnecessary if folks would just speak up, just apply social pressure — and not call a cop, a lawyer, or a legislator every time something goes awry.

Anecdote 1: Thirty years ago, if someone smoked near me in a restaurant, I could ask to be moved. Or I could complain to the owner, and ask for non-smoking sections. Restaurant owners were already voluntarily creating such things, because part of their clientele wanted it. But then legislators took away their freedom, robbed the market of its natural power to influence, and we have ever-growing piles of smoking laws. (I've never smoked a cigarette in my life, in case you're wondering.)

Anecdote 2: I was talking with a political candidate for a lower political office. She was black, and somehow we got onto quotas. She was for them, I was against them. She told me a story of a time she was denied a job because she was black. Taking her at her word, I said,
"See, I think that's appalling. If I had known you at the time, I would have been glad to confront the store owner. I would have been happy to tell him he wasn't going to be getting any more of my business. In fact, I would cheerfully have led a protest and carried a sign, to put societal and moral pressure on the idiot.

But I don't want the government telling him who he can and can't hire, or why. Because (as we've seen) if that happens, it eventually becomes impossible to hire good employees, and fire wretched ones.

Anecdote 3, from my long list of regrets: I was in a Walmart parking lot many years ago, getting into my car. Just a few feet away, a woman and her tubby little son were also getting into theirs. Well, except he didn't get right in. As she waited, he unzipped his pants, and urinated on the parking lot.

What I did do was stare, aghast, maybe (I don't recall) hoping she'd be shamed by my glare. What I should have done was holler, "Hey! Hortencia! There's a bathroom just 200 feet away inside the store! I'm sure little Guillermo can hold it that long... so take him there."

And so, having said all that, on the 0.0001% that you're one of those drivers who got a headlight-flick from me...

...that's why.