My commute to work in the morning is usually one of peace and beauty. With the sun coming up behind me and the desert opening up before me, I often see hot air balloons floating around. Sometimes they are high above, and sometimes they are coming in for a landing. I travel on a two-way highway, and occasionally there are slow construction trucks or campers because it is a main highway running east and west.
One morning I was just about to set the cruise control when I noticed a car passing a truck coming from the other direction. I quickly realized that this car was in my lane coming straight for me, and the driver was not going to have time or space to get out of my way. “Really?” I said as I drove onto the shoulder of the road. As we passed, I glanced over and saw her face. We were that close.
She did not look alarmed or scared or panicked. She did not look remorseful. I think she was oblivious. I don’t think she ever knew I was there. She had the sun in her eyes, so it is possible that she was blinded by the light. It made me want to shout, “I am here. I am here! I am here!” like the Whos shouted to Horton (Dr. Suess).
She made a mistake, and if there had not been a shoulder on that highway, her mistake could have cost both of us our lives. This incident has made me wonder how often I have been so blinded by something or so focused on my own life that I have failed to see someone else, literally see them, or just not pay attention to them. We need to look out for the needs of others, not just on the roads, but in life. We need to understand that our actions or inactions affect those around us. We are all tied together. We all matter. We are all here.