OK, then, riddle me this one. . . or two . . .

Why is it some people, when they are out driving around and find themselves totally lost, decide to do whatever the car behind them does?

It has to be the car behind them because these people are usually driving 1 mph so there are no cars in front. And they'll continue to drive 1 mph because they have to keep a close eye on their rear-view, in case the car behind them--driven by me, most likely--flips on a turning signal. So they can turn, too.

I've had people tell me they do this. None of them have been able to tell me why they think frustrating the bejeezus out of some random stranger is the solution to their problem. I even had a big tractor-trailer do it to me once--I was trying to find a place where we were having a work-related meeting and I just couldn't get out from behind this huge rig. I made a couple of U turns and he made them, too. Only way I could get past this idiot so I could actually see where I was going was by turning into a parking lot and shooting around him after he stopped.

It is possible to have some fun with these people, though. When I lived downtown I would send these people the wrong way up a one-way street, once I figured out this is what they're doing. It's easy--just flip on your signal light as you approach an intersection and they'll make the turn. Then I would just turn off the turn signal and keep going, finally able to drive close to the speed limit. Until I get behind another lost idiot.

Also--why do people suddenly decide, while they're driving along, to suddenly put their cars in reverse? I almost got nailed twice by the same guy who does that--he'll drive by, I'll start backing out, unaware that after he got past me he put his car in reverse and is now driving backwards, and of course not even thinking to check behind him. I did get dinged in the parking lot at the grocery store by an old lady who did that--she had the nerve to start berating me bcause I was backing up. Though I was backing out of a parking space and she had come to an interesection and decided for some reason she needed to back up. Without, of course, checking behind her. She decided it wasn't that big a deal when I took out my cell phone and called the cops.

So, any of you have any ideas why people do this crap? Beyond just general stupidity, that is?