By Craig westhaver
Since my home location is in the deep northwest of the city, my mode of transportation is either train or car. Recently, I have been taking the vehicle to work and have the benefit of a schedule that finishes at the tail end of rush hour.
Crowchild Trail is my preferred route and is usually pretty chill from my place to about the University, where for no apparent reason it then becomes a bottleneck until you hit Kensington Road.
One day as I was making my way to Metrovino, a vehicle decided it was imperative to make a spontaneous double lane change to pull right in front of me and then hit the brakes for the red light. A multitude of verbal insults and expressions were released upon this immediate inconvenience, but what struck me the most was… no wave, no ‘sorry buddy’, no finger salute or anything, just the presumption that it was okay to make a maneuver like this regardless of time or place. As I stewed a bit on the scenario at hand, my thoughts led me to, ‘this is the world we are living in’.
We want immediacy, and almost everything is available to us 24/7/365. Our priority trumps the surroundings we are in and our need to be first often is at the expense of others. When did we become such a hurried society? Why are we so impatient to get somewhere that will still be there 20 minutes from now and in some cases has been there for a thousand years.
No matter who you are, time is the only thing that we have in limited supply. How you decide to use that time is very much up to you, but if you believe your priorities are greater than the person in the car beside you or now behind you, kindly consider that you are not really that important in the grand scheme of the universe.
A simple gesture of thanks may help just one person enjoy their day. This act can maybe extend your precious time on earth or at the very least don’t send someone over the deep end in a rage for the rest of their day.
Everybody, wave and have a nice day.
With appreciation,
Craig Westhaver
