She Cut Me Off!

Okay, so a while back, I had an experience that originally made me want to start this journal.

I was driving up Redwood through all the crazy construction. The lanes eventually became defined by orange cones. There were three lanes and because I had chosen the far right one before and ended up in the construction workers area, I chose the middle lane this time. WRONG! One car quickly sped by me as I saw cars coming over the hill straight at me. GREAT! So, I tried to edge back into the correct (far right) lane, but I ended up cutting off the lady behind me. I was, for one, very embarassed! And second, I was a little defensive because I thought that the lady behind me should have also noticed the cars coming straight at me and should have let me back in a little easier. But, that was all because I was so embarassed. I couldn't get it off my mind.

Finally, the construction brought traffic to a complete stop. The lady got out of her van. OH CRAP!! I locked my doors and probably turned beet red and a little scared that the lady was about to yell and scream at me. Why would she do that? I was about to die because I chose the wrong lane and had cars coming at me. I was nervous. *tap, tap, tap* on my window. CRAP! I rolled down the window, fear on my face I'm sure, and prepared for the tongue lashing. "I just wanted to appologize. I shouldn't have honked at you like that! I've chosen the wrong lane before too, and I just shouldn't have reacted that way. I'm so sorry." WHAT?! She was a beautiful, thin, blonde woman. Her voice was very sincere. "I've been hoping that we'd stop so I could appologize. I really shouldn't have reacted so badly. I'm really, really sorry." I'm sure my face must have gone completely blank with shock and amazement. Remember in A Christmas Story when Ralphie's mom tells his dad that he had been in a fight but then she still covers for him, and his thought was that he realized he was not about to be destroyed afterall? THAT is what I thought! She was so sweet! And now my mind could be cleared of that terrible embarassment and instead, my mind was filled with love and compassion and thanksgiving as I realized that I was not about to be destroyed.

I LOVE where I live! Eagle Mountain must be the best place to live for us! Random acts of kindness like this happen frequently. One guy saw that our trashcan had blown over in the wind, so he took it out of the street (I was feeding Mitchell as I noticed all this) and put it up by our garage. He didn't just set it up again, he didn't put it in the driveway, he took it all the way up to where most garbage cans are kept by people's garages. Another day, someone noticed a bike helmet in our yard. Assuming it was ours (we had actually put it there because some kid hid it from another kid in our backyard... odd), he put it on our porch where we could find it. HOW SWEET!

Anyway, I'm so glad we were able to buy this home and that we have such amazing neighbors!