Cutters

I took the day off yesterday. I barely worked at all. I checked my voicemail throughout the day, but that was it. It was a well-deserved break.

In the middle of the day, I went to the store. I was in no hurry. The trip was enjoyable. On my way home, I took 19th Street. For those of you unfamiliar with 19th, it is a wonderful street. It circles the lake and has very few lights. It is a great route to take if trying to navigate through the neighborhood quickly. The view on the road is pretty. The traffic is almost non-existent.

In an effort to maintain the road, a construction crew re-paved one of the lanes. Since it is only a four-lane road (two in each direction), traffic built up going northbound. All of the cars going in that direction were required to merge into one as they passed the crew.

I noticed that the nice DOT-type workers were courteous and marked the upcoming merging of lanes well in advance. Being a bit goofy, I moved over to the open lane as soon as possible. Eventually, a line formed. Where one could normally fly by the lake, cars were lined up-- each patiently waiting his or her turn to pass the road construction.

As I sat and enjoyed the sunshine, I noticed that many cars would wait until the last moment to merge lanes. It seems as those cars only cut across because if they did not, they would run into cones and inevitably scratch their nice SUVs and BMWs.
I wondered to myself: Why aren't they waiting in line like the rest of us? What makes a person think that he or she should be able to cut across at the last second rather than putting in his or thirty seconds in line? I tried to calculate how long my wait was extended by the "cutters".

Another thought filtered into my mind at that time: I would never be a cutter. I am too square. I think it is rude to take advantage of others' kindness. I think that if we were all just considerate, the world would be a much better place. With that said, I am aware that a lot of people in our society do not hold this same viewpoint. I will forever be the one that sighs and lets the cutter over. I will never be the cuttee.

I wonder in how many other areas of my life this same concept could be applied. Am I always the one who allows others to get away with stuff? Do I let others take advantage of me? Will I always tolerate others not playing by the rules?

If not, what am I going to do about it???