the Wired Press - Bay Area driver let into lane

Monday, January 27, 2003

Bay Area driver let into lane

In a rather bizarre news story, a Bay Area commuter was voluntarily let into a slow-moving high-traffic merge lane. Stan Berferd of Redwood City, 34, was shocked.

“There I was in San Francisco, trying to merge onto the north 80 onramp. I turned on my turn signal, which is totally futile but a habit nonetheless, when all of a sudden, I look over my shoulder and there’s like, this gap! I nearly wet myself!”

The gap was created by San Jose resident, Frank Flannele. “So yeah. I saw this shmuck trying to use his turn signal and I was about to pull forward and cut him off, like usual. But I was on my way back from a really great lunch and I noticed I was running on time, so I figured ‘What the hell’ and waved him in,” Frank recounted, chewing thoughtfully on his stogie.

Starvin Marvin, a homeless member of the San Francisco community, was on the scene. “I was standin’ in my usual spot, just me and Scooge, here,” he said, nodding to an orange tabby sporting a 49er’s beanie. “Then I saw this dude come to a stop and wave the other dude in. I was like, ‘Oh wow, man. That never happens.’ ” Marvin and Scooge then celebrated the act of kindness with an interpretive dance.

What inspired this bizarre incident? Witnesses say it could have been the 300 point rise in the Dow, or the blessed end to the IQ-draining epic “Who Wants to Marry Joe Millionaire”. Skeptics, however, suspect Flannele’s act of charity was most likely attributed to the presence of the motorcycle cop parked inconspicuously up the ramp.

- Eva B. Rayard