I knew a guy named Brian when I lived in Atlanta. Brian was an older gentlmen, in his l
ate 60s. He was a baptist, but insisted on everybody calling him Father Brian because he said he looked like a catholic priest. Brian had a... strong theory of how the world should work, and what people needed to do in order to survive.
Now, I-285 is probably one of the more congested highways in the United States. It goes all around the sprawling city of Atlanta, and pretty much everyone has to use it in their commute. Brian shared once that he liked to, on a regular basis, get in the left hand lane on I-285, turn his right turn signal on, and drive the speed limit.
If you're like me, your blood just boiled. It's like gasoline for resentment. How dare he get in my way. On purpose no less -- this wasn't an act of incompetence like most of the drivers on that highway, this was an act of total maliciousness! Why, it's not just a betrayal of the sacred pact we decent and moral highway drivers make, it's a betrayal of the species as a whole.
Except it's not. It's just a man, in the left lane, going the speed limit, with his blinkers on. And while it's annoying, there's a lot in there for me to unpack. How much longer will it actually take for me to get to work if I'm behind him? Is that worth the rage and adrenaline that's coursing through my body? How much of my rage is ego driven, so that I can seize upon someone's wrongness, so that I can feel righteous? How often do I do stuff like this, completely unaware of the people trying to get around me?
Let's take a second to calm ourselves down, and recognize that Father Brian is always out there, and as angry as we get, tomorrow, he'll still be on the highway, with his right turn signal on. That's the nature of Father Brian.
