It's Hard to Say "I'm Sorry"

At work, I happened to spot today's edition of the Mercury News. First of all, I almost never have time to peruse the contents of our staff lounge, but I made an exception due to all the home-made goodies that were there to kick off "Teacher Appreciation Week". Anyway, back to the article I found interesting - it had to do with ways to say "I'm sorry" to other drivers when you inevitably do something stupid. One picture, in particular, cracked me up - it showed a man holding up a "peace" sign with his fingers and the caption underneath read: "Be sure to include both fingers". This article also included at least six other suggestions of what you should do to communicate with other drivers, ranging from a simple closed-fingered wave to blowing a kiss. I'm not sure about anyone else, but there is no way in hell I'm going to blow a kiss to another driver. Another gesture that I don't think would be taken well is the finger rotated beside your ear (the universal "cuckoo" sign). Supposedly, it's to admit that you, the driver, are cuckoo. But I traditionally use this sign to indicate that someone else is cuckoo, and I would think that another driver might misread my intent. I can see using some of the others that were suggested - like mouthing "I'm sorry" when you make a mistake. The thing is, is that it's hard for me to tell if someone is really sorry, or if they're just saying that so as to avoid the harsh unpleasantness of someone else's wrath. At any rate, I usually don't spend time on the road trying to communicate with other drivers, especially since I'm usually on the freeway and have to pay attention to what I'm doing. I also have to wonder why the Mercury News is printing such an article when there are bigger traffic issues out there, like people driving drunk (which H and I witnessed yesterday on our way home from a BBQ) or people running red lights. In my mind, when I don't feel safe and feel that the most likely cause of my own demise will be from driving in this area, the last thing I'm going to worry about is traffic etiquette.