As My Rage Dissipates...

On my way into work this morning, everyone seemed to be in an even bigger rush than normal during rush hour. I like to drive in the middle lane because, well, that's where you're supposed to drive, but also because there are several on and off ramps on my route, so I like to be out of the right lane to let those cars on and off, and the left lane is just downright scary on I-91 in Springfield. But through the heart of downtown, the road is so bad in the middle and right lanes than I almost always try to get into the left lane for that mile-long stretch so that I don't spill my coffee or even worse, have an accident (and I don't mean a car crash). It is SO bumpy. I know that means I have to speed up in the left lane or else face the wrath of psycho woman-doing-her-makeup-while-yelling-at-her-toddler-and-switching-lanes-to-maintain-her-90mph-speed, but no matter where I drove today, I was being tailgated. Mind you, I was hovering between 65 and 70mph, until the speed limit drops down to 55mph in that god-awful stretch of bumpiness, and then I was still going around 60mph to avoid being trampled.

Normally, my rage would have kicked in and I would have started giving these drivers nasty looks, letting them pass then tailgating to give them a taste of their own medicine, and just getting myself all worked up. Actually, in the past, I would have been driving just as fast as them, so it probably wouldn't have been an issue. But since I recently got into a minor accident at an intersection and my insurance will likely skyrocket because of it, I drive like I have a state trooper in my backseat with a checklist, ready to take away my license. Besides, I'm responsible and leave when I need to in order to get to my destination a few minutes early, so that even if there's traffic, I arrive on time. Genius, eh?

Instead, today I let people drive around my like race cars while I maintained my legal speed as well as a sense of peace. Let them rush. I will get to work safely and on time as long as they don't cause any accidents up ahead. Eventually, I got through the downtown area and mass of exits, and I was "home free." Except I wasn't.

Right where I got into my accident, a car came flying up behind me. I could see the flamboyant dude (is that an oxymoron?) in my mirror - talking on his phone, flapping his other hand around instead of keeping it on the wheel. I think I could read the time on his watch - that's how close he was. Like, if I let my foot of the gas, he would have plowed into me. So I slowly decelerated since we were coming to the awful intersection where I and all of my co-workers have been involved in accidents, and where I see one at least once a week. He never got off my tail. I held my breath as I came to a complete stop to check for oncoming traffic, almost certain I was about to be rear-ended. Thankfully, I was wrong. I watched in my rearview mirror as he cut off two cars to turn instead of giving them their right of way. Awesome. Then, up ahead, a bus was stopped to pick up passengers. I could see him yelling at me in his mirror since we were stopped. He hung up his phone at some point, or put it down, because now he was yelling with both hands in the air. Eventually, we got going again and I was getting annoyed so I decided to go about 15mph. Granted, we are driving up a steep hill, turning a curve, and passing through a school zone that is also currently a construction zone. He starts laying on his horn and screaming more, so I slow down to 10mph.

Let me tell you: this was pure bliss. I was doing nothing wrong and had we both been pulled over, he would've gotten a warning or even a ticket and I would've been praised for slowing down for schoolchildren and construction workers. Instead of taking a hint, he took a sharp right turn onto a side street to apparently get ahead of me. I was about .1 mile from the parking lot at work, so I didn't get to see where he was going in such a freaking hurry, but I gave myself a figurative pat on the back for staying calm and slowing down instead of giving him the finger or slamming on my brakes. I actually felt a little bad because he was apparently late for something, and I had to keep reminding myself that I was being the responsible driver and he was breaking all sorts of driving laws, and I had no reason to feel guilty.

I think yoga is working...