Seven Seconds

We are all in such a hurry these days- but is it worth it?

Dear Pick-Up Truck Driver who nearly hit me on the highway- was it worth it?

Let me provide you with some backstory. Commuting to work the other day, you decided to pass me- clearly even at ten over, I wasn’t going as fast as you wanted to go. And it’s fine if you wanted to pass me; there were four lanes, and it is absolutely your right if you choose not to drive in the same lane as me. But you didn’t give a lot of space when you merged back and forth; you came within inches of my back bumper as you merged into the lane to my right, and you came within inches of my front bumper when you rejoined my lane.

I get it, you were in a hurry; you needed to get wherever you were going, dammit, and I was in your way and driving so slowly compared to you.

At 70 miles per hour (my speed, not yours; and remember the highway’s limit is 60), that was a little close. It was a fleeting moment, over and done in less than five seconds. But think about it: if I had sped up at all, or you had slowed down a fraction, we might have had this conversation in person while the police assessed the damage of our two wrecked vehicles. Or… we might not be having any conversations at all. At 70 miles per hour, had we impacted, there was a decent chance we might not have walked…