Is this sexist? (Part II)

This, believe it or not, is what I started out to post about in the last post of the same title as this one: women drivers!

I remember a while ago now, March 11 to be exact, being a little miffed at this post on Peter McClelland's blog, McClelland Miscellanea. He also submitted it as a letter to the Daily News.

I was also guessing that the young mother with the cell phone on the ear in one hand, steering wheel in the other, young kid in the backseat, and dog further back might appear in the letter [a previous letter to the DN, seeking a woman race car driver]. When the light changed, around the corner she went with a one-hand turn, no directional, and little interest in the rate of speed. There was no way that she was paying sufficient attention to driving. Dangerous? You bet.

My recent experiences driving around town, however, have changed my tune.

Yesterday, while both on the way to and coming home from Port Plaza in my Jetta, I was almost nailed three times by cars being driven by women, each one of which was talking on a cell phone.

I started paying attention (a little) and noticed that few, if any, men drive while talking on a cell phone.

Then I recalled a friend telling me about a friend of hers who has a second-floor office on Liberty St., near Abe's. He told her it was entertaining to each morning watch women trying to park their SUVs on the street while simultaneously holding, and talking into, a cell phone.

Actually, he mostly was in fear of one of them bashing his sports car.

I don't get what's so all-fired important that you can't wait until you're not driving to take a phone call. The other day, I laughed openly at the neighbor when I saw her pull away in her car and 30 seconds later she was on the phone - to me.

"Didn't I just see you drive off?" I asked.

People take calls during ball games, during dinner in restaurants, on boats, during social gatherings ... sometimes they relay that it's an urgent call, but mostly it's just someone wanting to chat. They chat.

But back to driving. I know from personal experience that talking on a cell phone is distracting. I once backed into a car behind mine, not because I was on a cell phone, but because I was on the phone while walking up to my car. When I parked there, on Pleasant St. at 8:30 in the morning, there was no car parked behind my car.

Because I was on the phone, and it was only about 2 minutes later, I did not notice that a car had parked behind mine in the interim.

Note: I do, however, occasionally see men driving with a newspaper propped up on the steering wheel. Less often, I see women applying makeup - but I was recently in a car driven by Triple-D, on I-93, when she decided to apply mascara.

Tell the person you'll call them back when you're not driving. Please?