Courtesy

 Good afternoon, and welcome.

 I know that many of the people I encounter in public are probably basically good people, I have to sometimes wonder if manners and deference are taught anymore by parents or others.  Or perhaps is it just a general lack of awareness on the part of individuals who seem to be going through life with blinders on.  Let me give you a couple of quick examples, both of which involve traffic courtesy.

 I was traveling down a residential street today where cars were parked on both sides of the street.  The street width was so narrow that only one lane was available for the through traffic.  As I was in this narrow area, another car turned onto the street from a block or so ahead.  They didn’t have a lot of room where they could pull over and let me pass, but I had a fairly open area on my side.  I pulled over into that open area and, since my driver’s window was open because of the nicer weather, I motioned to the other driver to come on through.-As she passed by me, she looked straight ahead and didn’t acknowledge me or my gesture of pulling over to let her pass.  It was as if I wasn’t there.

 A little later in the day, I needed to make a left turn into the church parking lot.  I was traveling northbound on Waco, and the traffic on the other side of the street was fairly heavy.  I pulled into the turn lane, which at that point had just become a left-turn lane for the southbound traffic, and turned on my left turn signal.  Because of the heavier traffic, I had to stop and wait for it to pass.

 It happened that the traffic light at the intersection turned red, and the southbound traffic began to back up.  One, then two, then three…it wasn’t long before a woman stopped in the southbound lane in front of me, blocking my path to turn into the parking lot.  About that time, another southbound car wanted to get into the left turn lane, but couldn’t because I was blocking it…and in turn was blocked by the woman in the lane who had stopped in front of me.

 When traffic finally started to move, she gave no sign that she even noticed that I was there, waiting to turn.  She could easily have stopped ten or twelve feet farther back and allowed me the space to pull into the lot, but that didn’t happen.

 Now, I don’t tell you these things for you to think I’m such a wonderful and respectful driver.  I have my moments just like everyone else.  Nor was I expecting great kudos from the woman I allowed down the single lane, nor do I expect great apologies from the woman blocking the lane so I couldn’t turn.  But it’s always a courtesy to acknowledge the good deed of another driver by a short wave or at least a smile and nod.  However, that did not happen with either of these two drivers.

 I suppose it could have been that the two drivers were otherwise occupied with some major thing in their life, or perhaps were somewhat frightened to make eye contact with a strange man in another vehicle on the streets of Wichita.  I get it, I think.  But it would have been a welcome gesture to somehow acknowledge my presence, and, I think, just the courteous thing to do.

 Those two examples remind me of times when I’ve flashed my headlights (yes, your vehicle has a headlight flasher built in to the turn signal…that’s the thing you may not use very often…check it out) at a vehicle trying to merge into the lane just ahead of me.  I flash my lights to let them know they are welcome to move in front of me and merge…that I’ll wait for them instead of rushing ahead to fill the space they wanted to move into.

 Most people understand what flashing headlights mean when they’re trying to merge and they see that in their mirrors, but very few acknowledge the courtesy by gently tapping the brake once or twice to flash their tail lights.  Again, I don’t expect any great thank you, but it seems to me that a courtesy extended generally ought to be a courtesy acknowledged.

 The roadways are far too dangerous.  Tempers sometimes flare.  Frustration often mounts.  Sometimes, I think the demonstration of courtesy and the accompanying acknowledgement of that courtesy could go far in tamping down the frustrations and anger on the roads.  Think about it.  Find ways to acknowledge courtesies, whether on the road, in a work setting, at a retail store, or even at home.  You might be surprised at the good that will come of it.

 Blessings,