Lose Your Self: Be the Traffic Heading the Other Way
Driving home from the pool room the other day, I found myself stuck behind a miserable old goat who was driving an ugly oversized gold-colored boat. Not only was the senile fart dragging his ass, he was constantly brake-checking me, hitting his brakes, flashing his brake lights, even though there was no one in front of him for about a mile. I would’ve passed him if I could, but the section of road we were on didn’t offer any safe passing zones.
As luck would have it, he turned off on the same two-lane side road that I was taking. I knew from past observation that the road immediately presented a wide open passing zone with good visibility, so I slid over into the oncoming lane to pass. Unfortunately, for some reason, the ornery son-of-a-bitch didn’t want to be passed. As I drew even with him, he floored it. Suddenly, we were both doing 55 in a 40 mile per hour zone. Thankfully, my ride had a little more power than his boat and I finally managed to get around him. I thanked him for his cordiality by flipping him the bird.
My driving philosophy is simple. If someone wants to go faster than me, I let them pass. And, if someone’s in my way, I go around them. Hey, in brief, everyone should be able to drive at his own chosen speed. This usually works out pretty well for me, but every once in a while you run into one of these assholes who don’t like to get passed. They’d rather see you smack into a Mack Truck head-on than let you back into traffic.
Florida is the premier spawning ground for road rage. I hate to point my finger at old people as the cause, but, honestly, a lot of them should not be driving. I pulled up at a red light not too long ago and found myself alongside an old guy who had oxygen tubes coming from his nose with his head thrown back at a severe angle and his mouth wide open. He looked like he was at death’s door; yet, he was still driving. You can’t go a mile without some old geezer cutting out in front of you. Their minds are shot as are their reflexes. But, they drive.
Anyway, rather than spending all my time behind the wheel with my nerves on edge and my gut tied in a knot, I’ve developed a technique which allows me to lose my self and go with the flow. It starts by my observation of the traffic coming toward me. I’m sure the dramas that are occurring in front of me conspiring to hold me up are also transpiring in the oncoming lane. Yet, since they don’t directly affect me, they are not a source of tension. At the same time, it occurs to me that to those heading the opposite way I am the traffic heading the other way. As such, that occurring in front of me is meaningless to them as it should be to me. From here, I arrive at a peaceful place.
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