Driving Home

So I was inspired by Lindsay's blog to write about something that I usually consider mundane. Although this particular instance wasn't exactly mundane, at least not in how I reacted.
On my way home from school yesterday, I was driving down Broadway (I don't take Apache to the freeway, what with all the lightrail stops now), and a bit ahead of me in my lane cars were slowing down, but only in my lane. So I slow down, and eventually come to a complete stop. As I wait for traffic to free up and the cars behind me to stop going around, I can see what's going on ahead of me. There's a truck with its hazards on. Just sitting in the far right lane. So eventually I manage to get around, and as I pass, I look in my mirror, and I see the whole fender just kind of shlumped off the car. Still attached, but only barely. Definitely more on the ground than on the car. And I can see a girl walking in the grass on her cell phone, looking very disheveled. And I think to myself, you know, some people stuck behind that truck were probably really annoyed at the delay. I mean, I was in line for a good little chunk of time. But I was just struck by the thought, I would so much rather be stuck in a line getting around a truck, than the girl driving the truck! And it made me grateful that I was waiting behind the truck, because it's better than having my car bumber-less.
And then again as I was exiting the freeway, the exit line was WAY backed up, to almost half way down the exit lane. So I get it, not knowing why it's backed up. And as I am nearing the light, I see a mom and a little girl, probably about six, sitting on the curb. And as I turn the corner, I see a tow truck and an unhappy car on it. And I have that thought again of, man, I'm glad I was in the line waiting, and not sitting on the curb with a six-year old daughter waiting for someone to come pick us up after having been in a car accident.
And then as I was thinking about this, I was thinking what I'd do if I were the mom. I can imagine the girl: "I'm BORED mommy!" What do you do? So I decided I would create a game, to count how many happy drivers you see go through each light. Because not many drivers are generally happy.
But I just thought I'd share that with you, my random thoughts of gratitude at having to get stuck in traffic. Because I'd rather be stuck in traffic than waiting on a curb with my six year old daughter for a tow truck.
Thanks for reading, and thanks to Lindsay for the inspiration!