Thought of the Day 01.15.10

So the other day, I’m driving about 45 miles-per-hour next to this pick-up truck when suddenly the upcoming light which was green turns yellow, catching us both in that unpleasant zone where we have to choose between braking hard enough to stop or going through a light which will probably be red before we’re through. What did I do?

Well, I sped up a little to make it through the light, telling myself that it was the safest alternative, especially with some cars behind me. But as I was doing so, I saw to my horror that the pickup had come to the other conclusion. He stopped as I went through the orange light. And I was furious at him.

See, normally, he would have looked at me going ahead and he would have thought, “Well, if he thinks that’s best, I will too.” And I would have looked at him and thought the same thing. We could have mutually reinforced our bad decision with peer encouragement. Instead, he just had to show me that it was possible to stop, didn’t he? How dare he force me to realize how badly I wanted his peer approval to feel justified in my sin!

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