So I was driving home this evening and got behind a super slow car. What I call slow moving vehicles (SMVs). Okay, but let's be honest here. It was going the speed limit. Still, it was just too slow for me. It was obviously a couple of couples on their way to or from some event and they were just chattin' it up when I passed. It was a middle aged man driving. Given what I'd witnessed as I passed it made sense that they'd be on the slower side.
So I quickly passed and was quite a ways in front of this SMV when I looked back in my rear view mirror to see that car in the distance being passed again by another car. That was my justification for passing. "See!", I thought, "They are just too slow!" The car that passed them got closer and closer to me, but never too close. Always a safe 4-5 second following distance. I couldn't see who this driver was or any details of their being, but I liked this driver. They knew the other car was too slow, but that my speed was just right. Yeah, we could've been friends, I thought.
Then I got to a stop sign. Soon that car pulled up behind me. I expected this new friend of mine to be a younger driver. Probably a guy. Based on the speed and svelte passing abilities, it only made sense that it was someone who appreciated the open road and had agility and sensibility to match. But do you know what view was in my mirror instead?
It was a little old lady!!!! Which totally caught me off guard. Totally!
So I kept driving....as did she. Still keeping up, but not following too closely. Meanwhile, I'm thinking, "Who is this little old lady? I didn't know little old ladies drove that fast? What kind of little old lady drives so crazily!" (Yes, by this time her admirable skills had turned to dangerous, wild driving due to her age. I'm so prejudice!) That's when it hit me....just WHO this little old "crazy" driver is....
IT'S ME IN 40 YEARS!
To which I just cracked up laughing! Based on my current driving skills, I will surely be the little old lady that people think is a maniac when I'm 70. At that thought I tipped my proverbial hat to this little old lady and smiled with delight.
And I'd like to say I smiled with delight all the way home, but just before Bloomfield I got behind another SMV (this time full of goofy young boys in a car that probably would have self-destructed if they went much faster) and due to them my smile faded. Alas! My faded smile was temporary as I thought back to the little old lady still behind me and realized that she must be just as agitated as I and that sense of unspoken comradery brought that smile right back and remains even now.
What a fun drive home I had! I got a glimpse into the future. And you know? That future didn't look so bad!
4 comments:
Oh Hennyfair! I just love your anecdotes!
I haven't thought about what I'll be like in 40 years, and I don't know that I would ever relate it to driving styles, but perhaps it is worth some pondering!
Oh that was tooooo funny. and...You know what else? I call them SMV's too!!!! and some days, I call them Parade Floats, because it feels like we are in a parade some days driving down the road, and I just want to stick my hand out of the window and give a princess wave to everyone on the sidewalks!!! hahahahhahahahaha. I think my impatience comes from living here in Ecuador where speed limit signs are purely for street decoration and nothing else!!! hahhahahahahahaha
well my grandmother has a foot condition where she can't feel her feet. She will push on the peddle and not realize she is coasting at 80. How is that for a granny driver!?
I might be a slow driver, but I at least go 5 miles over the speed limit.
Jenny you crack me up!
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