― William Wordsworth
If there is
one place where our capacity for kindness is constantly tested, it's
traffic. Where I live, school is back in
session and that has made for some pretty gnarly traffic situations. This morning, I was not surprised to hear on
the radio that the city where I live is among the top 10 worst cities in the
U.S. for drivers, according to a study just released by Allstate.
Sometimes we
are tense in traffic because we are in a hurry, but sometimes, it seems that we
are just bothered by what other people are trying to "get" -- cutting
in front of us, getting ahead, being unfair...
At some point in my life, probably when I got beyond thinking that
people who drove fast were "cool," I decided that the way people
drive says something about them.
Today, I saw
a middle-aged guy in a black, late-model Audi.
He was talked very animatedly on the phone, well-dressed as far as I
could tell. He looked busy, a Type A -- a
lawyer, I figured. Just those quick, and thankfully unimportant, assumptions
that we make as we drive. Then, I saw
him let a car go in front of him. Kind,
I thought. And then, he let a second car
in front. Kinder. In seconds and without knowing anything about
this person, my perception of him changed -- just based on his kindness in
traffic.
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