Funny thing, as they do, they open spaces you can anticipate and use. Even a roadhog can't hog the whole road, they're always moving away from somewhere. You signal and start to edge right, they zoom forward, you ease slightly off the gas and getyour front right headlight into the space behind their left rear tail light, now you're in that lane and ahead of the guy behind them, and you stay close until you get fully in the lane. If you do it right, the guy behind doesn't have to slow down. Then of course you make and maintain a safe buffer in front of you. Your goal isn't to be the first in front, but to use the lanes to get where you need to go.
You're right of course. You should drive defensively at all times, and with courtesy, remembering the humans around you. But it's also dangerous and confusing to others if you don't take the right of way when it's yours. Or if you signal a move and then don't do it. As with my example of lane changing, you can anticipate another driver not making it easy and use that to find your spot. You shouldn't try to zoom ahead and cut them off, and you shouldn't even be starting to signal if there's not room. But soon after you start blinking, your car should at least indicate what you're doing by changing position within your own lane, and then you should finish the move as soon as it's safe.
You should also realize that the other person's signals need to be treated as a warning. Even if the car and its driver look small and easily intimidated, you should allow them the space to make their move. Too many drivers don't.
I'm going to add, if you see someone do something incredibly stupid, assume their GPS just gave them an impossible direction. Or their kid is kidnapped and they are hurrying to the ransom drop. Or whatever it takes for you to let go of your frustration and just add it into the day's tally of crazy driving rather than getting angry.
Always use the blinker. Remember it's not a request, it's a warning. The only time you might not is if you have to make a sudden emergency swerve and don't have time and need both hands on the wheel. In this case, survival should be immediately followed by an apology wave.
When changing lanes in fast traffic, using the blinker will usually cause the car next to you to speed up. This is a feature, not a bug, as it opens a space behind them into which you can stick the nose of your car, ahead of the guy following them.
Adding in: if you routinely drive with your lights on, you will find that little extra visibility makes people slightly less likely to cut you off or more likely to let you in. Sometimes they don't mean to be assholes, they're just distracted, and being more visible helps. If you consider that "dingdingding" a reminder to lock it, it will turn off the lights and be safe.
It should signal the direction the car is going to move. If the car's moving ass-first, then it should tell which way the ass is going. Helpfully, this is the same direction you have to turn the steering wheel, so your muscle memory will do just fine. It will tell the small child you can't see which leg will get broken.
If you're making a turn push the lever farther and it will keep blinking until the steering wheel starts to return to center. If you're just edging sideways into the next lane, a little flick will give you the few seconds of blinks and stop, because the wheel doesn't turn enough for the other system and you might not realize it's still blinking mile after míle.
I do wish the blinks were a faster tempo, more chances to alert others quickly.
Put the whole thing in a pot of water and start bringing it to a slow simmer. This will warm the air inside, expanding it and breaking the suction. I got my stuck blender jar open this way, taking it out as soon as the first tiny bubble escaped and quickly unscrewing it before it could cool.
During COVID lockdown I had plenty of yeast but very little flour, so I bulked it out with about half Matzo meal, which isn't breadcrumbs but the flour has been cooked. It wasn't great, but it loafed enough to slice and make sandwiches or toast.
The Catch-22 to that is it gives Trump and the GOP the excuse to declare martial law, as they're already itching to do, hugely extending the power of their autocracy.
The first neighbor obviously has no idea how you really spent the night, is only living their dream of late-night parties through seeing you come home as they leave for work.
The random friend may be able to see your lights go on, and your mum may want to know you're alive and safe without bothering you. Mums start that the first night their baby sleeps in another room and it continues their whole life. Most of us don't have that neighbor friend and just have to hope our kids text us once in awhile. I hope your mum lets you live your life without judgement. And I hope the random friend would let you know if something happened to your mum.
I'm old, but my even older inlaws refer to each other affectionately as "person."
People say "dude" is neutral, but you don't often see it used when all the dudes are women, and the existence of "dudette" also implies it's not.
"Friend" maybe but could sound sarcastic.
Come to think of it, all these terms are ripe for sarcastic use. In fact, I'd like to see the map of antibrotymology. Which of the above is used the way Wolverine uses "Bub"?
Funny thing, as they do, they open spaces you can anticipate and use. Even a roadhog can't hog the whole road, they're always moving away from somewhere. You signal and start to edge right, they zoom forward, you ease slightly off the gas and getyour front right headlight into the space behind their left rear tail light, now you're in that lane and ahead of the guy behind them, and you stay close until you get fully in the lane. If you do it right, the guy behind doesn't have to slow down. Then of course you make and maintain a safe buffer in front of you. Your goal isn't to be the first in front, but to use the lanes to get where you need to go.