Extra Measure of Care

Is there something in the stars, or just poor judgement? Within the past few days, I have witnessed several, serious incidents of driver inattention, all occurring within a short radius of my home. Somewhat unnerving, to say the least. Thankfully, none resulted in fatalities.  

Last Saturday, while walking on the sidewalk near a busy intersection, I watched a car blow right through a red light. Luckily, no one was hit. Moments later, at the very same light, a vehicle pulled out to make a right turn on a red, without any regard for the traffic proceeding through on the green. Numerous drivers were forced to slam on their brakes in order to avoid an accident. Fortunately, the pedestrians had already crossed.  

On Tuesday, while driving along an on-ramp to the highway, heading to the library with my granddaughter, I saw a car spinning out two lanes over, then hitting the median, before it eventually stopped. When I glanced ahead, I realized that the driver was reacting to the pickup truck that had just come to a halt, a short distance ahead in that same lane, facing the wrong way.  (Coincidentally, a couple of weeks earlier, within spitting distance of this spot, I came upon a three-car accident that had just occurred, due to a drunk driver travelling the wrong way.) 

Then today, my older daughter, with baby in tow, was driving down a main thoroughfare when a car pulled out from an alley, hitting my daughter's vehicle. No one was hurt, thank heaven.  

Please let us all take an extra measure of care when driving.  We all want our loved ones to arrive home safely.  Believe me, no one wants to experience the alternative.

Lipstick Lesbian

Went for my monthly haircut, extra short this time.  A glimpse in the mirror left me smiling as I recalled a previous hair related incident.  It occurred during Life Skills Coach training at Rhodes Wellness College.  A classmate had taken our group photo home and over dinner, had shown it to his partner and friends, all of whom were gay.  Pointing to my image, one friend commented on the short haircut and asked about this Lipstick Lesbian.  It fell upon my classmate to correct the inaccurate assumption.  We had a good laugh as he shared this with me the following day.  Recognizing the irony, as well as the timing.  One of our topics of course study?  Judgement.

Seeing the Similarities

I ran into a business acquaintance yesterday and she shared her condolences.  She then exclaimed, "I know exactly how you feel!"  My first thought was, "No you do not".  Middle aged, never been married and no children.  She knew exactly how I felt?   She proceeded to tell me that after her mum died, she had cried every day for eight months.  My mind quickly proceeded to judgement - grieving an eighty year old mother versus a twenty five year old son.  After a few minutes of small talk we said our goodbyes.  As I left, I reflected on her comment and my reaction to it.  I then remembered something that I had momentarily forgotten .  Grief is an emotional reaction to the loss of any relationship that had great meaning in ones life.  She obviously experienced very deep pain with that loss and imagined the same for me.  My desire to measure and compare our situations focused on our differences and created separation in my mind.  Seeing the similarities brought me back to a place of connection.  Much better.