On driving badly

As I was driving home last night, I experienced a familiar irritation. Approaching a highway interchange, the SUV in front of me first switched out of our lane and then a few moments later switched right back into it in front of me. A very well-known thought ran through my head. “This idiot has no idea what he’s doing.” Usually, this thought is followed by me contemptuously wondering, “Is it that hard to not be an imbecile when you’re driving?”

But that wasn’t the one that came next for me last night. Instead, I was stymied by my own inner phraseology. “He has no idea what he’s doing.” It caused me to realize that this person wasn’t trying to be annoying. He simply doesn’t know his way around this particular road. It’s possible he’s never driven here before. But even if he has, it’s pretty obvious that annoying me is not his intent.

Still it kept nagging at me this business of ignorance, and that’s when it clicked. There was only one right response. I should forgive him for he knows not how he drives.