I think I've mentioned it once before but on Thursday nights Tammy and I participate in a program at our church called Alpha. Last week, before the festivities began we were sitting in the library at the church about to ask God to bless the evening when Dan looks up at the picture of Jesus on the wall and notices that the eyes are looking down directly at me. He couldn't resist and said something like "Wes, Jesus has his eye on you".
Allow me to take a moment and explain. I spent most of my life not attending church. It wasn't until I moved out to the sticks and met Tammy that I began to go regularly. Dan is the pastor there and performed our wedding. Over the last 3 years I've grown more as a Christian and a person than at any time that I can remember. Much of that growth I attribute to Dan's teaching and friendship. Anyone who can step up to the pulpit wearing Converse minus the laces and use The Terminator in a sermon as a device to describe relentlessness is bound to catch my attention.
So, when Dan says "Jesus has his eye on you" my first thought wasn't that he was being cheeky and referring to the picture above my head.
He has that sense of humor though and we all had a good chuckle. The next day however I had couple of "3G double takes" when I received two text messages, both with the image above. The first entitled "I saw that" and the second "I heard that". If you look closely you can see the reflection of my friend Doug snapping the picture with The Holy Camera Phone capturing the image that will forever be my metaphor for iron sharpening iron. It's a joy to spend Sundays with a terrific group of chuckle heads.
So now, it is time for my confession. Hi, my name is Wes, and I'm a Road-Rage-a-Holic. I am constantly fighting the urge to wave at my fellow motorists minus 3 fingers and no thumb. I have Navy veteran friends who have winced after hearing me express my frustration at the lowered Honda Accord with the glass pack muffler that jammed itself in front of me. Bill, Tony, that's you, and no I don't know what a glass pack really is, but it's part of what makes those cars annoying I think.
Someone recently asked me "Who would want to read a commuting blog?" and my answer was I have no idea. I do know this; two things lately have kept the gamma rays from making me ruin my shoes, riding the bus and writing this blog. There is an extreme sense of helplessness when people do the things I rail about here. For me, it's like having my arms tied to my side while people whiz by counting coup.
Ok, ok, I'm not going to force someone off the road and beat them with French bread or anything. I'm sure that's the image that comes to mind when you see Road-Rage-a-Holic. That's what happens when the rage comes out of a person in a forceful way. Ultimately I have more of the Ox response, "My Doctor said I swallowed a lot of anger, along with a lot of pizza eheheh". Either way, I don't know any people who spend significant time in traffic that can sit back and say "Gee, gosh, these things happen". I think the bulk of us respond with either an inward and/or outward reaction to the frustration and anger.
Since I don't see physical altercations daily on the freeway I'm going to assume that most of us respond inwardly (mostly). I'm guessing that inattention accounts for some of these incidents but there are a fair number that are people who just don't feel that the rest of us are worth the time it would take to consider. Even harder to understand is the person who sees their behavior for what it is and revels in it. The last two are those that push me to the uglier parts of my rage.
Thankfully I have a support system comprised of family and friends who love me that keeps the pot from boiling over. It's a love that is so much more than the kind sung about on Casey Kasem's list. It's a verb, not a noun.
I'm better on the road than I used to be, really. Still though, I think that people who get caught doing silly things on the freeway should have to post their cell phone numbers on their rear bumpers. I might want to forward them a text message.
Don't drive angry! Drive weird!
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