Something hilarious happened Thursday night. Okay, maybe it won't be as funny to you as it is to me (I blame it on my weird sense of humor) I found myself laughing the rest of the night. Even during poor hubby's conversation with me about something serious, I was a laughing mess. "Okay, Taylor...we'll talk about it later. I see you are clearly still thinking about that." He's sharing his hopes and his dreams about his blog (haven't subscribed yet?) and like an immature child I'm holding back laughter as tears stream down my face. Sorry honey, I can't keep it in.
On Valentine's evening we were driving Israel home from school. There is this section of town (Baščaršija for those of you who know Sarajevo) where there is this weird cut-through that looks like a pedestrian street. It was dark outside and there was a man standing in the middle of it looking the other way. "Watch out for that man!" I called out. Josh laid on the horn. The man shot us a very angry look and screamed out, hands shaking in the air, "THIS IS NOT A STREET!!!" (Um. Yes it is, silly. I drive this street all the time) As we passed him I had the urge to throw my hands up as usual and put on an "you idiot!" face...like this will help him learn the lesson that I am right and he is wrong, very wrong indeed. But something in me, last minute, changed my hand gesture. As we passed this angry man, my hand lost control and I started waving—a huge red clown-like grin on my face. For a moment I caught the changing expression on his face. I imagine what must have been going through his head:
"You idiot! You almost hit me! What are you doing driving in MY street?!"
"Oh, wait a minute. This must be someone I know trying to get my attention. She's waving at me. Wow. I feel silly yelling at her like that."
"Wait...who IS that? I must know her...we don't wave and smile at people we don't know!"
"I guess I'd better play it safe and wave and smile back!"
It absolutely floors me to laughter to think that there is some man in Sarajevo looking for a silver Opal Zafira with top storage trying to figure out who in the world I am?! So the point of this post? Not much of a point at all really. But I think I learned that night that I have a choice in a moment to try to prove I am right or to swallow my pride and just smile. There's no use proving to the other driver/pedestrian that I am right. So now, instead of leaving the interaction stressed and angry, we both left laughing (and maybe on his side a bit confused, but that's okay)
INSTEAD OF MAKING SOMEONE PAY, MAKE THEIR DAY! (okay, easier said than done, but pretty catchy, right? Too corny for you? Blame Josh Irby!)
How do you deal with road rage?
Ever done anything that absolutely surprised someone or made their day?
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