The traffic light is the device that regulates our driving lives. It decides whether or not we are late or on time to our destination. But some would dare to have a shameless disregard for our social order. Renegades of the road speed up when they see a yellow light and tear through the intersection like a rebel force. Traffic cops and even red light cameras seem to be no match for these autocrats of the automobile.
Now I will be the first to admit I have run a red light or two, sitting at the intersection of Menaul and San Mateo Blvd in Albuquerque. It’s 3 o’clock in the morning and I am the only one out on the street. I’m sitting there for what seems like an eternity waiting and waiting for the traffic powers that be to bestow upon me my right of passage through the freakin’ intersection!! The cross traffic light finally turns from green to yellow, “All right, it’s almost my turn to go, I’m ready.” Now it turns red, I take my foot off the brake, ready to floor it. The cross-traffic light turns green again!! It skipped over me, M@*!$^@#&*!!! I’m thinking at this point a cop is hiding behind the Dunkin’ Donuts with a remote control device for the light, waiting to see if I would run it….I did! Of course, when you run a light you immediately check your mirrors to see if there are any flashing red and blue lights behind you. But there wasn’t – I did it! I fought the law and I WON! If only my old driver’s ed. teacher could see me now. But as I drove down Menaul Blvd, I couldn’t help but feel I had somehow let myself down. If there is one thing I can’t stand it’s people who run red lights and now I’ve become the very thing I despise. How could I look at myself in the rearview mirror? But maybe just realizing I did something wrong was enough. Maybe that was meant to be my road/traffic karma. Before you knew it, I had already justified to myself why I did what I did, and let me tell you, that is a very peaceful feeling. I drove down the street with a big smile on my face and then got pulled over for speeding.
Driver’s Karma can kick you in the – you know where!
Until next week take care and be safe –
Danny Keaton