You see them all the time and I bet you even see them in that little town you happen to live in. You are driving down a road and you are doing the speed limit or, perhaps, you are doing slightly over the speed limit. You check out your rearview mirror and there is a guy swerving first to the left and then the right, as if trying to peek around your car. Then, as soon as there is a break, he or she cuts to the right or left and flies past you. Obviously, whatever that person has to get to is much more important than whatever you need to get to. Silly you, you should just pull over when you see him or her on the roads and perhaps you should have just stayed home in the first place.

When I was in driver's education class we were taught that you had to learn to drive “defensively.” You were supposed to Identify, Predict, Decide and Enact upon potential obstacles and events happening in front of you. What you were not supposed to do was drive really, really fast, dodge around cars in front of you and basically treat the streets like your own persona NASCAR track or perhaps even a demolition derby.

Somewhere along the line, things changed on the roads. I would like to blame it on Mel Gibson just because I enjoy picking on him these days. He may not have written or directed those “Mad Max” movies, but he did star in them and that's close enough for me.

I have a good friend who seems to be poised near the edge of rage almost as soon as he gets into his fancy-schmancy car. He has a car that almost drives itself, has GPS, talks to him like KITT, has a back-up camera and can get his phone through the radio and he still isn't comfortable enough to want to spend even a single second longer than the feels is necessary to get to his destination. If it were me in that car, I'd almost be willing to move in there. He can't get to where he wants to go and get the hell out of that thing fast enough.

Riding in the car with him is entertaining in ways that you just cannot imagine. He is angry and EVERY other driver on the road. I have no idea what he expects from other drivers, but anyone who does not immediately leap off of the stop-line at the lights like they are drag racers or powers through a turn or turns into a parking lot at whip-lash speeds is likely to get him spouting expletives and throwing up his hands in frustration.

Of course, it seems to me that he has fallen into this trap that so many to these days. No one bothers to check the traffic, listen to the news or plan ahead when it comes to commuting. I am always early. This is a habit I have cultivated over a lifetime. I always give myself an hour to get to any destination within the city of Chicago. Sure, sometimes this means I am too early and I have to drive around the block a few times, but I would rather do that than being frustrated at being late and wishing that everyone around me were driving at professional-driver-level speeds.

My friend tends to take it slow in the morning. He takes a shower just slightly shorter than the last ice age and then spends time making coffee the slowest way known to man. Often, while he is still making coffee I have eaten breakfast, packed my suitcase, washed the car, built an addition on the neighbor's house, filled someone else's pool, cut the grass and planted a forest full of trees. Only when there is about ten minutes to get to the wanted destination does he then see fit to get into the car. So, of course, this immediately adds a sense of urgency to things.

At the same time, he is like far too many in this world. The world has grown impatient. With everyone carrying their damn phones with them all the time and plugging those damn Bluetooth ear-pieces into their heads like cyborgs, everyone expects everything to happen immediately. We are never unplugged anymore. People wonder why I don't answer my phone or ignore the phone when it rings. That's because I just don't want to talk to people and prefer to talk to people at my own pace and at my own time.

With all of this immediacy, the world has grown impatient. God-forbid that a drive take half-an-hour, forty-five minutes or an hour. Heaven forbid if the actual journey be part of the enjoyment of travel. No, you HAVE to get your destination as fast as possible, putting as many passengers and pedestrians at risk as possible along the way, and you have to get there before anyone else. Why? No one knows, but everyone seems to know that you have to do it.

I think this is where living in a major city like Chicago helps me. Unless you live way out in the suburbs of Chicago, the streets of this city are two-lane affairs. There is a lane headed east into the city and there is a lane headed west right back out. This means you are CONSTANTLY in traffic. There is nowhere else to go. So, you have to learn to sit back and relax and drive at whatever speed the line of cars in front of you is driving.

I am far from perfect, of course. Sometimes I just want to be done with driving and to be home on my couch watching television, but for the most part, I tend to try and occupy my time with things in the car. I listen to the radio and have found radio shows I like to listen to. I watch the people around me. I notice the other people all develop red faces and growing rage.

I guess my advice to people would be to relax. Get up earlier and plan ahead. Sunrises are just as beautiful as sunsets, as it turns out. There is something rather magical about a morning, when there is low-lying fog and a gradually lightening sky. The world is quiet and, for a moment, you can almost pretend you are the only one in it. With that feeling already set, being on the road with a few other people is almost a relief and not quite as stressful.

I would also advise people to try alternate modes of traveling. I enjoy taking the train. Man, noting teaches you to relax and chill out more than Amtrak. “Hurry up” is not a phrase you hear anywhere in and around those trains. You are forced to sit back, enjoy the rocking motion of the train and spying into people's backyards. Airports just add fuel to that frantic fire that everyone seems to be burning these days.

So, stop trying to get around that old couple in front of you. They are trying to enjoy what days they have left by taking a leisurely ride. They probably know more than you about how to relax and enjoy life. So, take a cue from them. Take your foot off the gas, find some tunes you enjoy, ease the seat back and relax. Take a look at the scenery. Learn to laugh at the other idiots who are fuming at their steering wheel.

Bryan Alaspa is a featured writer for Xomba.com. Read the rest of his work here .