Unfleeting slow cars
I have about a 30 minute commute to work, give or take a few slow drivers. I used to have really bad road rage (hehe, Old Man is laughing, "Used to?"). I would get to work in the morning and regale my coworkers with the antics of the slow drivers I had encountered that morning. Does something ever hit you so hard that you think "How in the world did I miss that!?" Well, slow drivers hit me that way. I began to understand one day that God does not put us in a place for no reason. He has a reason for one slow driver to see me leave my house, then call all the others to tell them that I had gotten on the road. And, I reasoned, that reason was to keep me from getting traffic violation citations or worse, a car accident.
Still, it was a slow process to go from "You *&%*$, #$^*%#!!" to "Lord, thank you for putting that slow person in front of me so that I can practice patience. And thank you for giving me a boss who tolerates tardiness because of slow *&^^*& drivers." Ok, I never said I was perfect, but I am getting better!
The thing about slowing down for other drivers is that you get to see more of the scenery and the bizarre things around you. Take this morning for instance. I was tooling down the highway, thanking God for all the slow drivers who placed themselves in front of me on purpose, when I looked in my rear view mirror to see the strangest sight. Before I get into the description of this strange sight, please understand that I have two dimensional vision. I cannot do those funny 3 dimensional pictures where things pop out on them when you stare at them hard enough. At night, when I am driving and I come to an intersection, I have to wait for all the headlights to go by before I can procede, because I can't tell how far away a car is in the dark.
In my rearview mirror I see an older car, a black compact sedan. On either side of this sedan, were two flapping things, the same color as the car. I did a double-take, trying to figure out what this was that was following me. The flapping things on each side of the car looked like a Batman cape. Seriously! They were flapping in the wind, too! Flap! Flap! Then I noticed some equipment under the car that seemed about to break loose. It, too, was flapping in the wind.
As this car followed me all the way into the city where I work, I kept trying to look at it more carefully. But, I had only my rearview mirror, which wasn't the best thing in the world for identifying objects behind me. As we pulled into town, we had to stop at a stop light. I looked carefully, but could not see the Batman cape any more! It looked like a regular beat-up old car. I was very disoriented.
Then, I took a right turn onto another street, the car following me. When the car made that turn, I could see that the right front bumper was badly damaged. Aha, that accounted for the right Batwing. But what about the left? It took almost another mile to finally see that the back left fender was badly damaged. So the Batwings came from a damaged right front bumper and a damaged left back fender. They were flapping in the wind! And the stuff on the undercarriage? I never did figure that out.
But just think about it. If it weren't for slow drivers doing 30 miles an hour in a 55 mile an hour speed zone, I may never have experienced the strangeness of this morning. *sigh* :)
Still, it was a slow process to go from "You *&%*$, #$^*%#!!" to "Lord, thank you for putting that slow person in front of me so that I can practice patience. And thank you for giving me a boss who tolerates tardiness because of slow *&^^*& drivers." Ok, I never said I was perfect, but I am getting better!
The thing about slowing down for other drivers is that you get to see more of the scenery and the bizarre things around you. Take this morning for instance. I was tooling down the highway, thanking God for all the slow drivers who placed themselves in front of me on purpose, when I looked in my rear view mirror to see the strangest sight. Before I get into the description of this strange sight, please understand that I have two dimensional vision. I cannot do those funny 3 dimensional pictures where things pop out on them when you stare at them hard enough. At night, when I am driving and I come to an intersection, I have to wait for all the headlights to go by before I can procede, because I can't tell how far away a car is in the dark.
In my rearview mirror I see an older car, a black compact sedan. On either side of this sedan, were two flapping things, the same color as the car. I did a double-take, trying to figure out what this was that was following me. The flapping things on each side of the car looked like a Batman cape. Seriously! They were flapping in the wind, too! Flap! Flap! Then I noticed some equipment under the car that seemed about to break loose. It, too, was flapping in the wind.
As this car followed me all the way into the city where I work, I kept trying to look at it more carefully. But, I had only my rearview mirror, which wasn't the best thing in the world for identifying objects behind me. As we pulled into town, we had to stop at a stop light. I looked carefully, but could not see the Batman cape any more! It looked like a regular beat-up old car. I was very disoriented.
Then, I took a right turn onto another street, the car following me. When the car made that turn, I could see that the right front bumper was badly damaged. Aha, that accounted for the right Batwing. But what about the left? It took almost another mile to finally see that the back left fender was badly damaged. So the Batwings came from a damaged right front bumper and a damaged left back fender. They were flapping in the wind! And the stuff on the undercarriage? I never did figure that out.
But just think about it. If it weren't for slow drivers doing 30 miles an hour in a 55 mile an hour speed zone, I may never have experienced the strangeness of this morning. *sigh* :)
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I've enjoyed writing this, as I hope you've enjoyed reading it. Please leave a comment about whether you like it or if not, constructive criticism is always welcome.