Stuck in Traffic

After a long day at work I’m sitting in horrible Santa Rosa traffic. Just a few days earlier it took Sheri and I fifty-two minutes to get home. We only had to go 1.7 miles. Traffic wasn’t as bad today but I wasn’t getting anywhere quickly. I’ve learned to enjoy the ride home. I take time to mentally unwind and marvel at how bad and self-centered California drivers are.

I’m sitting at a long series of lights trying to cross a busy double-lane highway. A late model Chevrolet van with faded blue paint creeps past me in the next lane. The van stops so I can see the driver’s face perfectly in the jumbo-sized side mirrors. Immediately after stopping the man started picking his nose. He was going in real deep. He dug and he dug until he found his prize. He stared at it a bit then began to slowly roll it around between his fingers. He stopped and stared at it some more. By now the light had turned green but he was too busy marveling at his shiny new booger to notice.

The car behind him became impatient waiting for him to move so the guy honked. Had he known a new booger had just been born I’m certain he would have shown more sympathy and understanding. The loud honk startled the man in the van. He quickly looked up and realized the light was green just like the object on his finger. So he did what any self-respecting man would do. He popped that booger into his mouth then drove away.

As I made my way north on Fulton Avenue I wondered what kind of a day that man had had. What caused him to spend so much time examining his booger? And why take the time to roll it up? Then I thought to myself “That’s a lot like life, isn’t it?” Then I thought, “No it isn’t. That’s just freakin’ gross. I’m stuck in traffic and the only entertainment I have is watching some guy pick his nose, roll it about, then pop it in his mouth.”

I’m staying home tomorrow and working on the stump in my front yard. Maybe I’ll take a nap.