Pay it forward on the road

Do you notice how much hotter the sun seems to be now? I guess we are all paying for our collective sins of the past. We have been warned about the thinning ozone layer since the 1960's, maybe even earlier, but many of us didn't bother.

I have never seen UV Indexes of 10 and 11 before in Southern Ontario, but this summer it is commonplace.

The weather is bearable in the shade, but if you have to be out in the sun, tensions frazzle fast... Since I stopped traveling on the major highways on a daily basis and stopped having to regularly drive the rush hour race, I think I have been evolving into a more generous driver. I am definitely much less aggressive.

Yesterday, I had an Open House in Uxbridge, and had to drive through Newmarket. Newmarket is a town that has become the central place for shopping for the entire region and the drive through it can be an adventure.

Perhaps it was because of the heat, or the effect of the sun, but the drivers in town yesterday were extremely aggressive. There are times when you are best served mirrorring the actions of the people you encounter, and times when doing the opposite will result in a better outcome. Yesterday's "pay it forward" was an accumulation of little things... things like stopping early when traffic has stopped ahead so that a person driving on the other side of the road can make a left turn instead of driving right up to the next car and blocking the intersection (its funny how if you have stopped on a four lane road how often the person driving in the other lane will also stop short allowing the person in the oncoming lane to turn left). Leaving enough room so that traffic can merge in front of me. Coming to a stop when the stoplight is orange (rather than trying to race through it) enabling the intersection to clear quicker.
None of my actions are momentous, but they have the accumulated effect of creating a much more relaxed drive for me, and possibly reducing the stress, even just a little for a moment of another driver. Will they choose to "pay it forward", we'll see...

In my life, there have been many people who have helped me in many, many ways on so many occasions, one couple that immediately comes to my mind are now lifelong friends, Al and Peggy Cunningham, people that I could never truly repay... so when I have an opportunity to help someone, even in a very small way, I try and help them if I possibly can...