Whenever I leave the house in the morning with the intent of arriving at work early, the fates seem to pull together and say "No way, girl. You are not going to efficient today."
Today was no exception.
I would have been ten minutes early were there not some mysterious back up at the tiny two lane bridge that everyone in the world seems to need to cross to get to work.
Where we live there are a lot of bridges- most of them draw bridges. Our little corner of the world is situated on the inter-coastal waterway so boats are moving through all the time. Big boats, sail boats, barges, tugs.... Many of the bridges go up on the hour or half hour and every one knows to leave early when you have to get over the bridge - which could mean any of a dozen or more bridges.
I would have totally understood the traffic jam if the bridge had been in the middle of a lift. That's just part of shore living. But, there was no lift. No accident. No major activity of any sort. Just cars not moving.
Unexplained traffic jams make me cranky. I try to fight it with good music, a sip of ice tea and an open sun roof but after awhile, when there is just no reason to be sitting for twenty minutes in my car without air conditioning (not so bad when the car is in motion but hot as you know what when I am sitting in backup), I get frustrated. It's my inner Yankee trying to break free.
The worst of it? The tiny two lane bridge that I absolutely have to cross on my way to work merges from two lanes into one of rush hour traffic. So, when we finally inched forward enough for me to move to the right, I turned on my directional and started to make my move. There was plenty of space for my little red car to get in there. The car next to me- do you know what he did? Hit the gas and blocked my merge.
Bless his little heart, he must have been in a real hurry to move those three feet.
Ten years ago we relocated from New England to the south. I love living here. True southerners are kind, giving, laid back and make some mean biscuits, fried chicken and gravy. No one enjoys traffic but we all just sort of cope with the bridge issue together. For a particularly long lift, I have seen people get out of their cars, grab a water or sweet tea from the trunk and stand around chatting for a few minutes. Southerners look for any excuse to drink a sweet tea and shoot the bull. It's true what they say about southern hospitality. People are just nicer here.
In fact, in all the years we have lived here I don't think anyone has ever "flipped me the bird" (you know, given me the middle finger) while driving. Where we lived in New England it was common practice to drive with hand on the horn and the other raised in the window wagging that middle finger. Blood pressure would soar, people were always angry and driving anywhere was very unpleasant, to say the least. Neither one of us has encountered any real road rage in over a decade. That is why I was so surprised that this man was so anxious to cut me off that we nearly collided.
What a pain an accident would have been in all of that traffic!
I wanted to ask him if he made it to his destination any faster by blocking my merge but I am pretty sure I already know the answer. When the traffic finally started moving, we ended up side by side at the next intersection- he was stuck behind two police cars so you know he wasn't rushing anywhere for a bit. I, on the other hand, made my left turn and arrived at work smiling and satisfied. Karma had done her job well.
Revenge is not mine to seek. I don't have time to hold grudges and I don't retain anger at all. I am too busy for all that. I do, however enjoy a well played hand of Karma.
As for that man, well, bless his heart....I hope he made it to where ever he had to go.
PS....In the south, "bless your heart" is most surely not a blessing....it's a little like flipping them the bird with an innocent smile and a toast of sweet tea.... :-)
I love your 'PS'. "Isn't he (she) just precious" has a meaning all itself as well. Southerners certainly have manners!
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