Monday, July 25, 2005

intersection revelation

the intersection near our current residence has been under construction for a couple of weeks.
the intersection is still in use, and everybody can turn every which way - it's just somewhat tougher and a little confusing. actually, the more I drive through it I realize it can be quite confusing. drivers don't know how to pull into the middle "waiting" area as they attempt to turn left through the intersection. the construction has actually widened the area to "wait" in, and it's causing all different people to approach the situation differently! all the normal intersection-etiquette moves are up in the air, apparently. and it can be annoying.

today I went through the intersection, and scoffed at three different peoples' "workings" of the drive space. they all made unique moves in and out of the space. one moved caused me to utter, "come on, what'r you doing?!" then I looked in my rearview mirror at the nissan truck behind me. he was not lined up in the same position I was and I wondered if he was thinking of me, "come on, what'r you doing?!" I wondered if he was growing impatient with me, as I was growing with others. I wondered who was lined up in the best intersection position. then it hit me ...

wait everybody! none of us knows what we are doing! we are all thrown off by this dissected intersection! we don't know what to do & THAT'S OKAY! let's just smile at this fun predicament and get through it in our different ways! let's laugh at how varied our driving patterns are through this place, and let's offer each other grace!

I want to go stand in that intersection with a sign that describes my intersection revelation. my first inclination was annoyance and impatience, but I came around to something I think is beautiful about life and people and such. I want others to get that too!
sadly, I probably can't find a way to communicate this revelation on a sign that a driver could read while also trying to cross this unique intersection safely... & I don't really have the time to go stand there ... & it's way too hot to stand out there for long! but, maybe they'll notice something special going on when I celebrate the driving that goes on there.
I'll be the guy hanging a hard left, pumping my fist in the air, celebrating the maneuver of the driver ahead of me, and smiling at the simple reality that it can be beautiful to NOT have everything figured out and possible to find a way to enjoy life's disruptions - at the intersection and beyond.

-s.o

1 Comments:

Blogger Brian Rhea said...

s.o.,

too true. how much better would this world be if we could substitute impatience and frustration with a celebration of life being a series of intersections where we're all sort of looking around going, "sooo..."

12:45 PM  

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