Drive unto others...

Although I’m sure some of my musings on the subject of driving would indicate otherwise, I do in fact make mistakes behind the wheel. Just yesterday, in fact, I merged right on the highway in heading for the off ramp and suddenly realized I had cut someone off. Despite looking over my shoulder first, still somehow I managed to almost cause a real problem. So what did I do?

Well, when we both pulled up the off-ramp, I deliberately went slowly enough so he could pull beside me, at which point I waved at him apologetically. His response? He flashed me a peace sign. It felt really good to not only take blame for my mistake but to be forgiven. And this is always my practice.

Even in situations when I didn’t do much or anything wrong, I always try to wave or signal my apology somehow. Why? Because it costs me nothing, and it can only do good. If the other person thinks I was wrong, then I have made an effort to appease him. And if the other person didn’t think I did anything wrong, well, it makes other drivers seem just that much more friendly and cooperative to him. See how easy it is to have a civilization?

No comments: