...Darwin's rolling over in his coffin. Cuz the fittest are surviving much less often.

Now everything seems to be reversing, and its worsening...

...now angry mob mentality is no longer the exception its the rule.

And I'm starting to feel a lot like Charlton Heston, stranded on a primate planet...

I really try hard most of the time to give people the benefit of the doubt. I recognize that we all make mistakes, act before we think sometimes and suffer the occasional moment of stupidity. After all, aren't some of the most important lessons in life learned through trial and error?

Then again, sometimes the immortal words of punk rock legends NOFX (above) seem to strike a little closer to home and sometimes it really does seem like the idiots are taking over. Sometimes its hard not to worry about the future of our civilization, especially as it seems to grow increasingly uncivil as time goes by.

If I had my way I would have all of the horns removed from all of the vehicles currently on the road and I'd see to it that no cars or trucks built in the future were done so with a horn. Or, even better I'd see to it that horns could only be heard by the driver on the inside of the vehicle. Crazy? Maybe! Of course I understand the intent behind the car horn however I'm am now convinced that the original purpose to a horn has become lost on today's driver and in fact horns have become more of a distraction than a safety feature, especially amongst those who feel that their gratuitous horn use is really their god-given right.

Once I've succeeded in eliminating the horns of the world, my next step will be to somehow have the middle finger surgically removed from anyone wishing to obtain a drivers license.

This past Saturday I found myself at the Park and Tilford shopping center in North Vancouver. The mall was unusually busy and parking was at a premium so I think I was lucky to find a spot in the furthest corner of the lot. I was walking back to the car when I happened to notice a driver pulling out of a lane onto the road that exits the mall. I didn't notice anything unusual about the way he pulled out, there was a van approaching but he had more than enough room to safely make the maneuver given the conditions at the time.

Apparently the driver of the van didn't think so.

What happened next seemed so absolutely ridiculous to me that I couldn't help but laugh out loud. The woman driving the van was probably going a bit fast for the lot and unfortunately, the driver pulling out in front of her meant that she was forced to move her right foot from the gas over to that other pedal to the left, the brake I believe. I guess she didn't like this and her immediate reaction was to hit the horn. Actually this is an understatement as I'm sure that her fist made a permanent dent on the center of the steering wheel. As if this wasn't enough, once she was sure that she had the attention of the other driver she then proceeded to thrust her middle finger forward so hard that I was sure it was going to go through the windshield.

The lady driving the van was in a fit of rage the likes of which I don't think I've ever seen before. I can't read lips but still I have a pretty good idea what she was saying and while this should have been enough clearly she wasn't satisfied. Once again she drove her fist into the horn and with the other hand again shoved her finger forward, willing it I'm sure through the back of the head of the driver in front. She obviously wanted everyone to know that she was angry, unfortunately this was the point where I started laughing.

Sadly, all of this was taking place in front of the van's passenger who could not have been more than 15 years old. An important lesson being passed on to a daughter, niece, whatever... but an even more important lesson was about to unfold.

Once the drama was over inside the van the male driver in the car up front stopped, got out of his car and approached the van...

In this case all the driver did was look at the lady, shrug his shoulders and ask the lady what her problem was but considering the seemingly increasing level of violence in our communities lately one can only imagine how this situation could have unfolded, and for what? But then I can't help but wonder, how exactly did the driver of the van expect the other person to react? What did she hope to gain by her obvious over-reaction and should she really expect the other guy to sit still through this when he really didn't do anything wrong?

This was a ridiculous, laughable event and in the end no one was hurt. Yet somehow I am troubled by it and what it says about us.

A few years ago my wife was at a 4 way stop when another car approached and blew the intersection out of turn. My wife gave the driver the finger and a couple of days later she was confronted by a high school friend who asked why she (my wife) had done this to the friends mother. To my knowledge my wife hasn't fingered anyone since.

A silly little story for sure, but I'm pretty sure that there's a lesson here somewhere. Or maybe not.