I found out this morning that I am a pathetic human being. I made the discovery thanks to a young man who was driving a late-model Chevy pickup pulling a trailer with a small but sophisticated ditch-digging device on it. I met the young man while headed south on Highway 169 near Owasso. As I approached 106th Street North, I signaled and moved into the left lane because I saw a cement mixer heading up the southbound on-ramp with a long line of vehicles behind it. One of the vehicles was the pickup mentioned above. Once I passed the cement mixer I stayed in the left lane, because years of commuting to Tulsa have taught me to keep the right lane clear for other commuters who enter the highway at 96th Street North, 86th Street North and 76th Street North. As I took the curve south of 96th Street, I suddenly noticed that same Chevy pickup about ten feet behind me. Since I was traveling at 72 mph, 2 mph faster than the speed limit, I decided to stay in the left lane thereby allowing the pickup to move to the right lane, if the driver so chose, because it was clear at the moment. That is exactly what the driver decided to do. As soon as he was passed me, he swerved into the left lane, even though there was barely enough room for his truck and trailer to fit between my vehicle and the vehicle ahead of me. The young man’s obviously superior life perspective must have indicated to him how dangerous the situation was, because he instantly started braking, to the point where we were both going about 25 mph. He repeated this twice, until we were almost upon the exit for 76th Street North. Suddenly the man veered across the right lane to take the 76th Street exit. As I passed him, he gestured to me to follow him, because he obviously wanted to calmly and reasonably discuss the situation at length off the highway where it would be much safer to conduct such a discussion. I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t veer across the right lane and take the exit in order to join him in that discussion. Whoever you are, thank you for so gently convincing me that you are smarter, better looking and just all around a better person than me. It was a tremendous learning experience for me. One note of caution: I recommend you concentrate a little less on being a teacher and more on the way you transport your boss’s expensive equipment, or else your career in the ditch-digging industry, for which you have obvious aptitude, might come to a sudden stop.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 13:25:48 +0000
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