A driver yielded his right of way and waved me on through the intersection yesterday. When he waved, he waved very vigorously and angrily. He repeated this about three more times before I had completed my left-hand turn through the intersection.
It made me think about yielding the right of way, not just in traffic, but in any part of life.
When you yield, or defer, to another person, you give up the right to also tell them how to do the thing you’re yielding to them. You can’t yield your right of way in traffic and then expect me to move at your pace. If you’re in a rush, don’t yield the right of way. But if you do yield, let the other person go about it however fast or slow, however cleanly or sloppily, and however intelligently or stupidly they wish to do it.
Otherwise, you haven’t really yielded at all.