Uhhh, yeah. What HE said.

I was going to shock the world by sticking with a one-word answer, but I just thought of some other drivel on the subject and I don't think I can contain myself.

In the late 60s and early 70s in my neighborhood, some people dropped big Chevy V8s into small Chevys (Novas / Chevy IIs) and then removed every piece of chrome and painted the whole shebang with flat-black primer. They installed a cut-out switch on the license plate light and then dressed in black leathers and *really* pointy black leather boots. These people were referred to as The Rats, and the low-visibility Novas were intended to at least convey the impression that the owner was completely at ease with a routine that consisted of breaking into pharmacies to steal narcotics and then escaping into the night.

It is my studied opinion that all people who remove their DRL modules are expressing the primal Rat Urge -- are struggling to free the Gangsta Within. Their subsequent installation of cut-out switches and the many reported late-night escapes from sushi bars only confirm this.

On a marginally related topic, I must further inflate by posting my recent missive to Click and Clack:

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To: [email protected]
Subject: Whatsa behind? No matta!

Guys,

The caller Kathie from Kirkland, WA called supposedly to settle a beef with her boyfried about flashing lights to pass.

This was a little disingenuous. What "Kathie" failed to disclose is that she lives in the Washington-Oregon No-Pass Zone where student drivers are whipped with 21-inch premium wiper blades if they so much as *glance* into their rear-view mirror during their instruction. Local preachers exhort their congregations to move to the left-most lane and set their cruise controls exactly to the speed limit so that none of us heathens will be allowed to sin by exceeding it! "Slower Traffic Keep Right" signs are exposed for what they really are -- exhortations to sin from heathen, secular humanist government officials!

So, what Kathie failed to mention if that her boyfriend is currently serving time in Walla Walla for the crime of trying to *not* pass on the right and for trying to get another driver's attention. In his defense, he *tried* to stay at a reasonable distance, but the left-lane hugger in front of him just *assumed* that meant that he didn't want to pass. So, he crept closer, even flashed his lights... Sorry, that qualifies for 1 day in the stocks and 6 months-to-life in this state!

So, most people here wouldn't last a minute in a country where drivers actually pay some attention. No matter, though, all those Europeans are going to Hell, aren't they?
--
-*- Jim Hogan
Seattle, WA

Oh, and Bruno, good work on the subject. Agree completely.