For all those who think women can drive anything but vehicles, it’s high time you had another think coming. I personally know some very good women drivers.
That may not include yours truly; yet, I get hassled every time I see hand gestures from one of the workers manning the car-cleaning machine, attempting to catch my eye and guide me into the closest parking spot. I am certain it is my gender that dictates the drill than my parking skills. For I know I am quite adept at the reverse parking bit, albeit after self-training in an open parking lot for hours during the early days of driving.
I wouldn’t be perturbed as much if my husband was also ‘granted’ such parking lessons. I would have dismissed it as an earnest attempt to find a customer for a fresh session of vigorous car cleaning – which is what it is, in any case. But having overheard all the snide remarks thrown at women drivers over the years, there is a sense of ennui now; that ennui is blended with a tinge of ire when those parking lessons directed at me are triggered – for heaven’s sake – by a wrong move (read that as error of judgment in gauging the space) in my haste to park my little salon car in between two larger vehicles.
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And, come to think of it, the entire world appears to be teeming with ace drivers, even those without a license, when a woman driver makes a faux pas. A little shake of head, some tut-tutting, some loud exasperations and sniggers – even loud guffaws – to indicate that they expected nothing better.
“That must be a woman driver”, is a common quip when a car is idling at a roundabout, waiting for the right moment to enter, or shifting cautiously between lanes on the highway.
Notwithstanding the fact that I have yet to hear a woman say that about another woman driver, I do not believe these apparently reckless comments have anything to do with misogyny.
Or do they?
That may be a hasty pointer to make, I agree, but I would like to wager the loose change in my wallet to state that the thin line between a loud honk to express displeasure at a driver cutting your lane and an open outburst to vent out road rage, cuts across all genders and all ages.
But having said that, don’t you agree women are more careful drivers?
