interstate 85

this morning a blue acura TL merged onto I-85. there was a blonde girl at the wheel. as she merged onto the interstate she entered the far right lane. it was a decent lane. smooth pavement. wouldn't disappear for a few miles. her speedometer read somewhere around 65 miles per hour. 65, however, wasn't quite fast enough. there was a car in front of her. she began changing lanes to the left. about that time i saw blue in my peripheral vision. by the time i turned my head her mirror was about two inches from my door. i quickly turned my wheel, entering the lane to my left. she noticed at the same moment, and curved back into her lane. i had a hunch she knew what almost happened. mainly because the rest of my drive, she stayed about three car lengths behind me.

was i angry? not really, i make stupid mistakes while driving too. i was disturbed. primarily because my gut-instinct reaction was wrong. to prevent her from hitting my car i swerved out of the way. the thought of 'what if' entered my mind.

what if there had been a car in my left lane?

she changed lanes slowly. slow enough that i could react. i changed lanes fast. too fast for someone to avoid me. ironically enough, my reaction was potentially worse than the error causing me to react. and we were both guilty of the same fault: changing lanes without looking.

sometimes i find myself in a situation with no good options. i can choose A or B, but neither one offers me the ease i desire. legally, i should have just let her hit me. i could have honked my horn (for some reason, i never do. it just doesn't occur to me that's what a horn is for), but i shouldn't have changed the direction of my car in any way. if she had hit me, it would have been her fault, and hopefully i wouldn't go spinning out of control. that option stinks for obvious reasons. no one wants to get sideswiped going 65 down the interstate. the other option was what i chose, but it had potential to cause more damage to my car than letting the acura hit me, and it would have been my fault.

these situations crop up every now and then, and i was reminded this morning that ultimately, when it's all said and done, even when we make bad decisions, God is still capable of working them together for good.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
romans 8:28