Since KMBC moved to the new building over near the zoo, off of I-435, obviously, my route to work has changed. So far, I've yet to get in the car and, absent-mindedly, head downtown. (I have accidentally pulled up to the zoo's monkey house but the similarities between that location and my work area are rather striking.) My drives to work are filled with very few vehicles but that doesn't mean there's no action! Frankly, I lead a rather wild life in the moonlight hours. My new path to Channel 9 keeps me on the side roads and off the interstate a little more. That means I see many more critters. Raccoons, possums, foxes and deer. Lots of deer. Fortunately, the deer seem quite literate and polite, only crossing where the signs permit. Possums, on the other hand, either can't see the proper signs...they are the Mr. Magoo of the animal kingdom...or they simply don't care about society's conventions...which would make them the James Dean of the animal kingdom, Rebel Without No Claws. (Pardon the double negative.)

These furry friends, who share my overnight drive, are, for the most part, pleasant companions. The same can't be said for every two-legged creature on the road by the time I go home. With my hours, I'm often wrapping up my day when some are just getting started, so I understand that people are often in a rush...running late. Again, with the new workplace, I spend more time on the streets and off the highways so I really can see what folks are doing as they drive. Sometimes it seems like everyone is on the phone or drinking coffee or eating breakfast or putting on make-up or shaving or all of the above. Now, I realize that my writing about this situation is like Charlie Gibson doing a special report to announce the invention of the cotton gin. It is not exactly news. I guess I just never experienced it until the new trek.

Monday was a particularly harrowing drive home. As I was tooling down Holmes, going the speed limit and leaving plenty of room between myself and the car ahead of me, (see, mom, I do listen to you) I noticed a rather imposing jet-black muscle car in my rear-view mirror...still a considerable distance back. I moved into the passing lane to go around a garbage truck and the evil twin of Knight Rider did, too. I got back into the right lane as quickly as possible, fully expecting the speeding bullet of an auto to go around me. It did not. It swooped in right behind me. The stoplight I was approaching turned yellow before I got to the intersection so, I stopped. I know some folks take that yellow light to mean "HURRY! YOU CAN MAKE IT!" But, I am more the "DANGER! DANGER! SLOW DOWN AND PREPARE TO STOP!" kind of driver. So, I stopped. The car behind me did not even slow down. It was barrelling my way. Finally, it careened into the other lane, forcing another car to slam on the brakes and sailed through the now-red stoplight. All that was missing was music from The Rockford Files.

I saw this bombing behemoth of a car take a sharp turn into a parking lot just past the intersection. When the light turned green, I slowly passed the lot hoping to get a look at this marauding motorist. Out jumped a petite young woman, cell-phone on one ear, dressed for some sort of corporate job...apparently oblivious to the potential havoc she may well have caused. On the good side, this suburban version of Bullitt, reminded me to tell the young drivers around my house (and myself!) some basic rules: Don't speed. Don't follow too close. Don't do anything but drive the car when you're driving the car. Don't assume anyone else on the road is following these, or any other, rules.

Now, I'm no Marlin Perkins, but, frankly, I'll take my chances with the middle-of-the-night wildlife before the middle-of-the-morning wild-drivers.