Signs

Driving has become a full-time job--stress and all. Yes, the joy is in the journey; however, somehow at one point, I desided that the act of driving alone was not enough. I loved to blast Black Sabbath and drink-and-drive. Of course that led to eat and drive. When girls came into the picture...well, I juggled it all--and then some (Even on the motorcycle). More recently, the cell phone hasn't helped matters either. I remember years ago, driving to college, making a left turn at a light--on a busy 2-lane highway. I didn't see the cop ahead on the other side, but of course he saw me. When he stopped me, only yards from the turn, he went through the 'normal 'routine. Next, he asked me why I didn't see all the signs at the light that stated emphatically NOT to make a left. I said I didn't see them. His exact reply I don't recall, because of the paralizing fear, but the implication was that that was obvious to him, and that I couldn't be that stupid enough to purposely disregard the law in front of an officer. Then he made me walk back to the intersection, and count how many signs there were related to NOT making a left-turn. (I can still hear the laughter and car horns from the world around me.) When finished counting, I discovered that there were a total of 15 varities of the same message-of which none I saw. I went back to the cop, and told him how many I counted. He said if he could write me a ticket for being stupid he would. I received a warning with my 'crap-sandwhich'(of which I had an extra helping in my pants), and crawled to school in every right-lane I could find. How could I not see all those signs? It turns out, over the last 25 years I have had to come to realize that those weren't the only signs I had missed. Upon review, in more sober times, I've been able to recall many more that I missed, and more importantly have become more open and aware of signs that before I would have missed as well. Like it or not, it was time to connect-the-dots. JamesHarmon