Sunday Drive

Dear Friends,
I just walked in the door from what was intended to be a nice and cheap family outing. Now, I must blog about it in order not to cry at the humanity of it all. As previously discussed, Daniel and I are trying to live off of mostly nothing to get some stupid stuff paid off. We have been locked in the house since yesterday as we all have a cold and don't want to expose anyone else. But, we were feeling a little cabin fever and thought we would go out for ice cream. This is cheap, right?

$7.89 to be exact for a large fry, large Diet Coke, small Frosty and medium Frosty. We pulled into a parking space and Daniel crawled in the back to share with Claire. She is a Smyth and we love our french fries and frosties! We are enjoying the moment of bottled air, but the beauty of a dreary day. Finally, I decided I wanted to head on home. We were at the Wendy's on Louetta and for any of you who live near...this is a big mess with them working on the road and intersection. I should have known.

I waited for an open space, to turn right. I was EVEN TURNING RIGHT! When I actually needed to go left in order to avoid the drama of turning left without a light. I waited for a large opening and pulled out. About five seconds later, and it was a long five seconds...I see a large SUV coming close to slamming into the back of me as her horn was blaring.

I was sure I had given myself plenty of room. I was sure that there were two lanes. Daniel says I was in the "right". But, honestly...that was beside the point.

As the SUV swerves into the left lane...horn still blaring...I turn and look. A harsh-looking woman in the driver's seat is leaning over the man in the passenger seat and I hear her scream through my closed window..."F$#@ing Idiot!!!" with her middle finger proudly unrolled with a fierceness at the end of her arm that I have never seen. Claire was still enjoying her Frosty in the backseat.

My afternoon outing with my family took a very sad turn. Something like that really gets to me. I try to quiet my mind and tell myself that maybe she was having a bad day. Maybe she is a bad person. Maybe she will get what's coming to her. Daniel and I talked about the fact that this would be a "teaching" moment if Claire had been older.

At what point do we get that angry? Even if I pulled out in front her... At what point is it ok for us to completely denigrate our fellow man. It makes me sad in that moment...what world have I brought my daughter into? I know there is good...I have so many friends and family that prove that to me everyday. But, what if that disappointment of a woman was Claire's teacher or coach someday? I hope that she realized what she did was wrong. But, somehow I think not. I'm better now.

I got it out. God grant me the strength to finish the evening off joyfully.
k