I was driving into work today, like any other day. Whistling along with the radio, enjoying the sun finally coming out, and then immediately slamming on my breaks wicked hard, narrowly avoiding removing someone's car door. The person was getting out of their vehicle at a yard sale, and didn't seem to be paying much attention, as they seemed pretty surprised to see my vehicle screeching toward them, to a halt.

I gave a wave of recognition (no, not the finger) to let them know I saw them. Albeit, at the last second. And he gave an apologetic wave, knowing what he had just done. And the thing is, this happens a lot. I love yard sales as much as the next guy, but I always go waaaayyy out of my way to make sure I'm not parked in the road, and that I look really well before just swinging my door open.

I'm not disparaging yard sales at all either. everybody needs to get rid of their old stuff, and you might as well make a few bucks while you do it. If I had a complaint, it's that folks who are attending the yard sales don't all seem to take as much stock in their surroundings. If there was an accident, I don't care who's fault it is, as long as everyone is safe. But it seems there are too many near misses sometimes when passing through one.

It's like a gauntlet trying to navigate when there are cars parked on both sides of the road, folks crossing in spots with no cross walks, and people doing some of the most "creative" parking jobs known to man. I want to get my hands on someone's used power tools really bad too, but I don't want to put my car in the shop in the process.

So as we roll into the season, let's all keep extra wits about us. In the cars, in the parked cars, crossing, whatever. We have to look out for ourselves for sure, but let's look out for each other as well. I hope you find the good score!

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