Cant we all just.....stay on the trail?

One thing Ive noticed this year is how many tracks go off the trail and then come back to the trail at some other point. This braiding of the trail gets me fuming mad. Is it really that hard for someone to learn the etiquette of the sport? I see people do it and I just want to scream. I have gotten into the habit of stopping every time I see a rider to give them clear passage and yet that doesn't even work.
Case in point: On my ride Wednesday I see a rider coming towards me. I can see even at a distance this guy is a newbie to the sport. Long white tube socks, some kind of Hawaiian shirt and shorts, sneakers, etc. I stop my bike on the trail, lean it away from the trail and wave him on. Instead he stops. Cool I think to myself, he actually knows the rules. I start pedaling towards him only to realize that he has ridden off the trail about 6 feet to give me "room" to get by. I start to say something and off he goes, oblivious to what he has just done.
As I drive home I start thinking of ways to educate the the new riders as more and more show up at our new trail-head. I have a few ideas but I think some fliers for the parking lot to start. At least one for the door to the restrooms perhaps. We have to start somewhere before our single track turns into a fire road.