It’s a long commute for me to work. Adding to my agony is the traffic. I have to drop my son to his school and head to work. My son keeps me entertained for half of the journey to work. Our conversation is simple and usually about construction diggers, counting school buses, blue bikes, Thomas train, "gaba gaba song" and how much he likes school and stuff. After "I love you and I will pick you up" I am off to work and of course I have to battle the traffic first. The first week of work was hectic. I was never use to long commute before.
My husband gave me some suggestions on how to handle gridlock traffic. "Listen to your favorite songs or listen to radio salam namaste" he says. Good suggestion and probably I would suggest the same to other long commuters too. But that’s not the case with me. I am frustrated, cursing all slow going cars, over taking, and trying to reach early. And the funny part is that there is no urgency to reach early. I will have ample of time to reach on time but yet I am in a hurry to reach early. I cannot withstand slow moving vehicles especially the ones who are going below the speed limit for no reason.
Then, on one fine evening after leaving work, an epiphany explodes in my mind. I realized in that fine moment that all the drivers in their vehicles are driving according to their own individual personalities. I am fast in everything I do from everyday chore like cooking to cleaning and now it shows in my driving too. Fast driving is my personality. Don’t get me wrong here. I respect and follow driving law. I will never ever go insanely fast, disregarding other drivers and jeopardizing precious life on road. It’s just that I am a fast person and slow irritates me.
Anyway, I wanted to experiment with my theory. Does a person’s driving reveal their personality? Ever since this question popped up in my mind, I am observing and analyzing all drivers who share my direction to work. Every day I get to see different drivers and everyday is something different to learn about human psychology. I see female drivers who put on makeup while driving; I see young drivers aged 18 to 25 with high volume rap music; I see drivers in lot of hurry; I see drivers who have all the time in this world; I see drivers who are too busy to eat breakfast at home and eat in their car; I see driver who are elderly and in no rush.
As far as my fast attitude driving is concerned, I’ve changed my ways now. Even though fast is in my blood, driving on public road is definitely no place to display it. I get to meet slow drivers, very fast drivers, obnoxious and rude drivers, young and elderly drivers on my way to work. I have learnt to respect every one of them and reach my destination safe. All thanks to my husband who made me realize this. It was just three days ago when we were driving somewhere and I came across a vehicle that was going very slow. I complained my husband on how slow the vehicle is going. He responded saying “you don’t know what condition they are in. Just pass and go.” To my shock it was a very old lady probably 80 years old or even older driving that car. My heart sank.
Commute these days is much calmer from my side. I drive with highest respect to my co-drivers. I am yielding and pass slow goers without frown on my face. I may never know what condition or situation they are in. All I can do is understand and drive. Drive safe y’ll.
ನಮ್ಮ ಕಾಲದ ಪಠ್ಯಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳು - ಅಧ್ಯಾಯ ೮
3 months ago
