Let's Try Patience and Consideration on the Road

A friend of mine, Stoney, asked me to do a column on being patient and considerate. He was referring to the way we treat each other while trying to drive through town. The US 40 road work is raising our frustration levels considerably when we're behind the wheel.

We're always in a hurry for one reason or another. I'm as guilty as anyone else. But now we have to realize we cannot go through Brazil on US 40 east of 59 in a hurry. We have to accept this and plan accordingly.

Most of the time traffic on US 40 is backed up and slow during the daytime business hours. We know this. Trying to get on 40 from a side road can be extremely difficult. Traffic may be backed up as far as we can see, even at a stand-still. But most people driving on 40 don't want to stop ahead of an intersection to allow a car on the side street to enter onto 40. The 40 driver is frustrated because traffic is so slow and he wants to keep moving forward even if it's just creeping along. The side street driver gets furious because no one will let him in on 40.

And the road on US 40 now is sooo narrow. You feel like you're going to fall off if you get an inch closer to the edge. Or you're afraid you'll hit someone head on if you get too close to the left side to prevent falling off the road on the right. It's really frustrating, and scary.

We could change our patterns a little bit, maybe, to adjust, like taking an alternate route or changing lunch times. But most of us won't or can't do that. Yet we still want to take a side trip to Walmart or the grocery store after we eat lunch. Then we get mad when we don't have time to do it all because of the traffic congestion. That anger can make us do some strange and dangerous things.

Stoney said the other day he was on Depot Street headed south by the Speedway gas station. The light turned red. He stopped his car short of the Depot Street entrance into the station so if a Speedway patron wanted to get out onto Depot they could. A man behind him got so angry about this that he tried to pass Stoney to get in that spot. (It wasn't me.) (But it could have been.)This angered Stoney.

"How much quicker was that guy going to get where he was going by being one car ahead of where he was?" Stoney asked. "It made me mad, so I hit the gas pedal and moved up to fill that spot. The guy had to back off and drop back in line behind me."

Being frustrated and angry can make us do things that are inconsiderate and even dangerous. The roads are going to be like this apparently until November. Brazil is going to be beautiful when all the work is complete. And I really believe everyone will be pleased and say it was well worth all the inconvenience. But until then I guess we just need to change our attitude.

Before we get in our vehicle we should to take a deep breath and try to practice some patience. That's easier said than done but it's worth a try. We know it's going to be slow and nerve wracking.

If we expect and accept this then we won't be so irritated when that's what happens.

We need to remember that other drivers are experiencing the same frustrations that we are. We should try to treat them the way we want to be treated. I know I would like other drivers to be patient and considerate to me. So I'm going to try my best to be patient and considerate to them. And it might improve my emotional health and my physical safety. We can get through this. We just need to work together and try to be patient and considerate to one another.

Keep smiling.

Linda Messmer can be reached at 812-448-8725.