Please be Patient...

...Beginner everything & anything.

Wouldn't it be sweet if we all would just give each other a break?  I don't mean friends, because most of us do that already (or else we wouldn't call each other friend, would we?).  But I do mean family and neighbors and strangers.

Last weekend at Skid School Advanced Driver Training for Teens with our daughter we heard from one instructor who suggested that the next time someone cuts us off, instead of growing enraged, we should give them a break.  Think about the millions of reasons why that person cut you off - she was late, he didn't see you till he was already in his turn, she's driving to the police station to pick up her son, he's driving to the nursing home to see his mother who the nurses have just proclaimed on her last breath, there's a toddler screaming in the back seat driving the driver to distraction, she's craving chocolate frozen yogurt and the local grocers closes in five minutes, or -- yeah -- he might just be a jerk.  But really, how many true jerks are there in our world?

So when I saw this magnet, I pounced: I wanted to let other drivers know that the reason my car was doing the speed limit or -- heaven forbid -- five miles below it was because my new driver was becoming familiar with the vehicle and the road and the rules and all the split second decisions that are or might come into play.  And it worked, till it disappeared from our bumper.  Now I'll need to take a picture of the outrageous new magnet I had custom made - but that will have to be an add on since I am running the risk of arriving late to class today.  And I certainly don't want to speed in order to avoid that (do I, Skid School Instructors?!).

A funny aside: when the magnet above first arrived, my daughter and I placed it on my husband's bumper just before he drove to Brattleboro, VT, to meet up with a buddy of his.  He didn't notice till he walked to the parking lot to return home.  He had wondered why tailgaters suddenly dropped back off his bumper on the trip there.

Patience please.  I'm new at this patience stuff myself.  Just ask my family. Or my students. :)