Here’s a real story from tonight. I was returning from a PTA meeting at my son’s school with a car full of neighbors. At one point, we saw a car parked smack in the middle of the street while the driver was animatedly talking to somebody. I flashed the lights, but the guy didn’t pay any attention, so I carefully drove around him (there wasn’t really that much room there) and dropped off my friend several blocks away.
On our way back, the car was still parked in the middle of the road. I drove over to the driver’s side and calmly told him that he was blocking the street. Instead of apologizing, he tried to brush me off with a joke. I reprimanded him for the lack of derech eretz and drove off.
One of my friends got really mad at this behavior. As we discussed it in the car, it slowly dawned on me that reprimanding him in front of four other people in the car was not the right thing to do.
Once we got to our parking lot, but before I had a chance to park properly, the neighbor sitting in the front passenger seat noticed that she was missing a lens from her glasses. I pulled up the parking brake and the three of us started searching for the lens. As soon as the lens was found, the most amazing thing happened. The car, which had stood perfectly still until that moment, started sliding downhill and finally hit a wall about 5 yards away.
After the initial shock dissipated, it became clear to me that the incident was directly related to the reprimand given to the other driver several minutes prior. Although it might have been perfectly reasonable to notify him that he was blocking whatever traffic might occasion down the street at 11:30 PM, it was not OK to pass judgment on his personality, especially not in front of other people. Instead of the knee jerk reaction, I could have given him the benefit of the doubt or just driven off without the second comment. The reminder to try harder the next time around was not long in coming.
The price of the lesson – a broken light and a smashed bumper. Blessed is He who takes out His anger on sticks and stones.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Leah Aharoni, Leah Aharoni. Leah Aharoni said: What Your Car Can Teach You (With Some Help from Up There): Here’s a real story from tonight. I was returning from… http://bit.ly/9fMaaU [...]
lovely post. i’m not as secure as you are in faith, belief and signs. but i am searching for meaning *everywhere.* and this was, for sure, a good one! thanks for sharing and explaining!
.-= Minnesota Mamaleh´s last blog ..Minnesota Mamaleh: Religion is Coming Home =-.
Galit, thank you. I can’t fathom a world of randomness that doesn’t leads us anywhere. That would be too cruel. I think we have to leave this world as better people than we had been in the beginning. For that, Gd gives us plenty of opportunities to rise to the occasion.
In this case, it was 20/20 hindsight, but hopefully the message will stick.