Behind the wheel

it's time to come clean. Although I hear almost daily stories about driving in Boston traffic, and episodes of mini-road rage, I must admit I'm one of the pack myself.

Yesterday I drove my son to his job downtown and there was a woman in front of me meandering through the maze of construction on one of our main thoroughfares. The usual two lanes were down to one, but her speed at twelve miles an hour meant missing green lights street after street. It wasn't until my 26 year old son, always freely outspoken, admonished me for tailgating that I realized what I was doing. Tailgating is nasty in my book. But, but, but..... all I was doing was pushing her along a little, reminding her that there were other drivers on the road with places to go, sometimes on deadline.

So I gave up, let go, and gave her room. Shortly she turned left off the boulevard, perhaps having searched for an opening and finally found one. (Or was she escaping the annoying tailgater right behind her?). Boston is a city full of tourists and other visitors, and it's sometimes hard even for the natives to finagel around construction, much less all the rotaries and one way streets.

I believe we can find almost every opportunity for character development every day we're right behind the wheel. When the speed of life is not the point, but the quality of every moment, it's crystal clear. Nowhere is there a better place to experience this exercise than out there on the road.