Driving in Lebanon is a fun activity... for me at least. Whether the streets are empty or there is a traffic deadlock, it still is the same: I enjoy driving! But that's more down to me than anything else, because in reality, if I am unable to isolate myself from my surroundings and create a pleasant atmosphere in the cockpit of my car, driving in Lebanon will be hell.

There are so many reasons for getting mad. For me, it's the horn. We Lebanese love that damn thing and use it for 75 different reasons. For other people, driving in Lebanon can be hell because it will take more time to go from Dora to Downtown Beirut than to travel from Italy to Lebanon... including boarding time! Others are annoyed by the fact that some of our police officers are too busy texting their girlfriends and they just don't care about what's going on around them. Though the biggest reason for getting mad while driving in Lebanon is that hardly anyone respects the rules. Those rules are for our own safety, we should realize that. Respecting them is not a burden, but a means to facilitate our driving activity. On a side note, I find it funny when some people get annoyed by everybody else's drivingand don't realize that the problem stems from their own inability. They often forget that they "had bought" the driving license in a typically Lebanese way and they were never qualified to drive in the first place.

So how come I find driving fun?

To start with, I love cars. My parents never had to worry about me being a drug addict or a gambler or anything because I spend most of my money on what I call my babies. My friends are usually surprised when I tell them that I'd pick them up for our outing, especially if our destination, where I live, and where they live are not on the same line. Collinear is the right word we used back in maths class to describe three or more points lying on the same straight line.Ohhh those were the memories. Anyway,my friends question my sanity when they find out that I am actually willing to get stuck in traffic to pick them up, only to get stuck in traffic again later! But then they sit in my car... First of all, whether it is summer, winter, spring, fall, or any other imaginary 5^th season of the year, my windows are always closed.Second, I play loud music.I have this enormous collection of music that allows me to change genres to go alongwith my changing moods and mychanging passengers with their changing tastes. These two actions completely isolate me from my surroundings and create my very own surroundings. Think of it! How much time do we have per day to listen to music? We're all busy right? So why not take advantage of the traffic that we get stuck in anyway, for recreation,for relaxing, for playing some of our favorite music? The third technique I use to make driving a pleasant activity isby neverbeing in a hurry. I always plan for everything and therefore, I don't need to drive like a maniac to avoid being late and get frustrated by every slow poke in the way while frustrating the hell out of everybody else with my own driving. If you drive 100km/hr instead of 80 on Lebanese roads, chances are, you will save less than 2 minutes. Meanwhile, if you move 5 minutes earlier, you will end up saving 5 minutes or more!Quite smart, eh?

Have you noticed the stress on people's faces when driving in Lebanon? I'm sure you have. Some funnily relief it by picking their noses when they're stuck in traffic. Ewww gross! Meanwhile, on the contrary, I'm usually singing along with my favorite artists and I'm happy while driving. I'm probably dancing as well if the song allows me to do that. I don't care if people are laughing at me. I'm happy and they're stressedwhile we're in the same situation! I should be laughing at them. "Rira bien qui rira le dernier" as the French saying goes.Trust me, stress is the primary cause for cancer, arteriosclerosis, and every other disease we can think of. There are many reasons to feel stressed in Lebanon anyway, and if we can do something to get rid ofone of its causes, then by all means we shall do it.It's easy for all of us to follow some basic driving rules which are there for our own safety. We can all be a bit more polite while dealing with other driversand byremembering that roads are public property. They're not mine, they're not yours, but for every person out there, so we should all be happy to share them. And one last thing I already discussed, the radio was installed in our cars probably since my grandfather's teenage years, so we can use it and try to forget about traffic when we're stuck in it by listening to some good music. I assure you, all this will make driving a fun activity to you, just like it does for me. Try itnext time you're out there and let me know if it works or not. Waiting for your response...