I was on my way to pick up my husband from work last Friday. Traffic was heavy as I drove down Cache Road. I was in the far left lane and noticed a little Malibu pull out into the lane of traffic ahead of me. It pulled out from a parking lot on the right and shot out across the lane closest to him and moved into my lane. No biggie to me, because he was far enough ahead of me that I didn't even have to tap my brakes, much less slam them. However...when he pulled out of the parking area, the right lane had lots of traffic and he had to cut in front of a big dulley pick-up truck to make his way across the two lanes and in front of me. The big white dulley pick-up was very unhappy. He jerked over in front of me to make his way up behind the little Chevy Malibu. The Malibu must have realized the pick-up was ticked off because he quickly pulled over in front of another car in the right lane to get the pick-up off his tail-end. I watched in awe as the pick-up continued to veer in and out of traffic to chase the Malibu down the road--he even ran a red light to stay behind him. The Malibu weaved in and out of traffic. It was obvious that he was trying to get away from that pickup truck.
I thought to myself. Wow. What kinda nut is driving that truck? It wasn't like the Malibu had been overly intrusive when he pulled out of the parking lot. I was watching. That pickup didn't even have to hit his brakes. Given, he was a bit closer to the Malibu that pulled out than I was. But still. He didn't even have to brake to allow the car to pull out. And after all, folks, it was 4:30 rush-hour traffic on a Friday afternoon. Aren't we suppose to be aware of other folks needing to get out into the traffic flow? Especially on a road that has multiple restaurants, businesses and shopping centers? Come on. What was that pick-up driver's problem? As I turned off Cache Road, I thought about the roaring rage within him as he continued chasing the little Malibu. I wondered if a wreck was in his future. I wondered if his wrath would continue when he got home to his wife and kids.
That pick-up driver was furious as he drove. He'd obviously stored up a bunch of anger and irritation and frustration during his day. Perhaps he got some bad news that afternoon. Maybe he just lost his job. Maybe he was tired. Maybe someone ate his lunch. Maybe he was sick of everyone in general and no one in particular treating him as if he was not there--as if he was less important than they were. And when that car pulled out in front of him, he took it personally. He saw it as the last straw. He was sick of people acting as if their rights were more important than his. He was sick of someone "cutting" in line. Maybe, that was it. Maybe when he was a kid, folks were always cutting in line. I don't know; just thought I'd mention it.
There's a whole lifetime ahead of us, friends. Folks have all kinds of obstacles and trials and difficulties confront them each day. We aren't the only ones on the road. I hope they can let go of some of those problems before they climb into their vehicles. Don't you?
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