Hypocrite.

Yes, I just realized I'm a hypocrite. Not in an extremely bad way. But a hypocrite nonetheless.

One of my signature lines in my classroom is, "Ignore them. The only person you can control is yourself. You can't control what others do." In fact, it's such a signature that I've actually had kids repeat it while I was saying it. We've dissected what it actually means and what we can do to help a situation, even if we can't change what others do.

That being said? Why on Earth do I think I can control what others do? Maryland drivers drive me crazy. But I can't change them. I can only control my reaction to them. My kids drive me crazy. I can't control what they do. I can only control my reaction to them. (I can encourage them to make better choices-- but I can't change the choices they make).

This is particularly frustrating to me because I'm such a rule-bound person, except in the case of the speed limit because I'll be darned if I can actually drive it. I follow rules because they are rules. Not because they even make sense. Simply because someone has said it's a rule.

And that's why I yelled at some driver who was talking with their cell phone to their ear. The law changed October 1st in Maryland: you must use a hands-free device. I paid $60 to get a bluetooth so I could follow the rules. For some reason, it just didn't seem fair that if I couldn't drive with a phone to my ear, he shouldn't be able to either. I may have yelled at him and pointed to my hands free device while "encouraging" him to get one, too.