What's Going on in Your Car?

You know that super annoying person meandering down the road in front of you with their turn signal on? Well today that person was me. Cruising down the road grooving to a little Lauri Berkner Band I glanced down to see that my right turn signal was still on indicating my exit from the highway about a half-mile back. I quickly checked the rearview mirror – yep someone behind me. It may not have felt so embarrassing except that I was certain they had seen my blond ponytail bouncing up and down as Dani and I boogied to our hip toddler tunes.

When I see “that” car going down the road, and it’s not me, I have to wonder where are they going? Why don’t they notice their signal? Did they just turn? Did they intent to turn but then didn’t? Did they bump it inadvertently? Are they lost? Confused? If the vehicle in question is a mini-van all is instantaneously forgiven. There is an immediate assumption that behind the wheel of that caravan rides what remains of some flustered mother’s sanity. She’s probably being pummeled in the back of the head by somebody’s stuffed animal (if she’s lucky that is – there is always a chance for hard plastic and potentially lethal Transformer or flying Matchbox car) trying to shout over the multiple voices competing for airtime, all the while trying to remember why she was so excited about those two purple lines so long ago that transformed her carefree college days into this minivan prison. I’m quite certain the turn signal never even makes a blip on her radar.

As for everyone else signaling turns they never intend to make, what is going on? I can’t tell you how many times I drive down the road and mentally teleport into a passing car. I’m sure this isn’t very safe, but I’m only gone for a second, just wondering. Where are they headed? A shiny red Volvo goes by, the family inside is all dressed up…are they headed to church? A funeral? An old beat up Dodge truck goes by with a young couple inside – the girl inside is practically on the young man’s lap and she is laughing. I smile. Hubby had a truck like that when we first started dating. My mind rides shotgun with them for a second while simultaneously returning to my own memories of a similar experience.

I love to glance around at the cars I share the pavement with. I love to wonder about the lives of the people inside. But most of the time I am caught up in my own world, distracted by the contents of my own vehicle. Life is like that I guess. We often think and wonder about what’s going on with other people but for the most part we stay in our own cars.

While researching what other military wife blogs are out there, I came across one written by a Marine wife who goes by the name “Mrs. P”. She has kept a blog throughout her hubby’s deployment. She has written about their time apart and the excitement of marriage that only a newlywed knows. She has written about her pregnancy and the birth of their first daughter which her hubby witnessed over the phone. Her most recent blog is entitled “2 Weeks”. This is how long it has been since her husband was killed in action in Afghanistan. Now I am riding in her car. All of the sudden what has been going on in my world seems pretty trivial compared to what is going on in someone else’s. I cannot imagine the grief of this 23 year-old wife and mother who was counting down to her husband’s return just weeks ago only now to be recounting how long he has been gone.

I want to remember Mrs. P. Her world is not my world and I know that. But what she has lost, and what her family has sacrificed makes me that much more grateful for all I have. As caught up as we all get in our own lives I think it is important that we take time to remember that we are not the only ones on the road.

So when you see that crazy person with the turn signal on cut them a little slack. We don’t always know what is going on in the other person’s car. I hope that it is just Dani and I rockin’ on down the road, but it might not be. Remember that you’re not the only one out there and the ride for some is not as smooth as the ride for someone else. Appreciate what’s riding with you in your car. As I glance back at that fuzzy green coat and pigtails I crank up “Rocket Ship Run”, and I know there’s no other car in the world I’d rather be driving.

For anyone interested in reading Mrs. P's Blog - www.alittlepinkinaworldofcamo.blogspot.com