by Rachel Fahnel

Created on: July 24, 2010

Surely you've seen it at some point: A woman behind the wheel of her car, at a red light, artfully applying her makeup. The light turns green, and suddenly Michael Angello becomes Picasso as she steps on the accelerator a second before her lip stick tube breaks contact with her skin.

Some find humor in this situation, as surely it can be an amusing sight. Others, however, see what is really going on; This lady, who perhaps overslept that morning, is creating a hazard for every other driver on the road.

The whys of female drivers putting their makeup on in the car vary. They may have not heard their alarm that morning, or rambunctious children ate up their beauty regimen time. Or, sad to say, perhaps they do this chronically, a kind of Russian Roulette multi-tasking session, willing to endanger themselves and the vehicles and persons around them.

Some may wonder why she doesn't wait until she reaches her destination and can sit in a parked car and put on her face. The answer you are most likely to get here is "No time! If I can put on in the amount of time it takes me to drive to work, it won't matter that I hit the snooze button this morning."

Another suggestion, perhaps from a well-meaning (or irritated) male, is just go bare-faced that day.

The horror! He may receive in response a suggestion that he not shower, shave, and dress and see how much he wants to face his employer and coworkers. While he may find that answer a bit excessive, many women indeed feel naked and unprepared to face the pressures of the day without her makeup in place.

Makeup can be a shield for some women, and they consider it unimaginable that they not put their armor on before heading into "battle" each day. They feel that, just as a knight of old wouldn't have met his opponent without his suit of armor, they, too, cannot face the expectations the world places on them without the confidence that feeling they look presentable gives them.

The sight of a woman putting her makeup on in the car is sure to be familiar for many years to come. Try to stay out of her lane, pray, and if you are a woman driver yourself, remember that that mascara brush is used awfully close to your eyes... You wouldn't want to be rear ended when you are putting on your Maybelline.

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