Monday, June 6, 2022

#258 Lane Pain

I just returned from vacation, so I've spent a lot of time driving over the past week. It's also road construction season, when one of my least favorite types of people comes out. I'm sure you've met these drivers. You're driving alone on a nice interstate or state highway with two lanes going your direction. Traffic is flowing smoothly. There's a person just ahead of you doing something like 75 mph when the speed limit is posted at 70. Then a construction zone comes up. After the merge, one lane is open as normal, while the other lane has a series of orange barrels in it. The speed limit goes down to something like 60. Suddenly the person ahead of you, the person who was comfortably driving 75 about two minutes ago, seems unable to drive 60, even though this person is still in the same lane, which is exactly the same size as it was before. It doesn't make sense to me. I understand that everyone needs to slow down in the construction zone. I want the workers to be and to feel safe. But I don't understand why having barrels in the next lane affects some people's ability to drive in their own lane. If they could go at least the (faster) speed limit before why can't they go the (slower) speed limit now? The amount of room hasn't changed. I wish someone could explain this to me!

So what we've learned is that I'm an impatient person. I don't like it when I'm not free to drive the speed I'd like to drive. My impatience is a sign of my sinful selfishness. If I'm getting stuck behind another driver in the construction zone, maybe God is trying to teach me patience. After all, it's not all about me.

Grace and peace,
BMH

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