Phew, they’re finally gone. Is it me or has anybody else noticed that the number of auto honkers has increased over the past five years? We all know that the auto line to Edgartown is going to take forever before we even get into the car. What makes people think that honking is going to make a difference? In my life, I have never had so many vehicular operators honk at me for going too slowly down dirt roads, tar roads, beach roads and the best one; the road that leads to the ferry. What has happened to car etiquette?

Back when I was a little girl, it was taken for granted that if you saw an old friend on the road, both cars would stop and have a chat about the grandkids who were coming for the summer or how to dry out rose hips for tea. If there were people behind you, they waited patiently and read from a book they kept in the passenger seat. We were an Island of readers and writers back then.

I make it a point to drive just a smidgen under the speed limit just in case a turkey, a deer or a moped should appear from out of the blue. Driving over sand can be tricky. Driving over wet sand at an excessive rate of speed can be deadly.

If more people knew that, they would not impatiently honk their horns as if they had to get to someplace on time. Islanders are always late, everybody knows that. Why do you think we call it “Island time”?

The rudeness of off-Island drivers seems to have increased each year since I hit 70. People yelling “Get off the road, granny” are not going to make me drive faster. I may have to dye my hair or learn how to text, but I’m not going to be a part of the “speed breed.”

So, watch out folks. I’m oblivious to your profiling. I’m a slow cooker, a slow talker and a slow driver. And your life is safer for it.