“I'm late…

… I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say "Hello." Goodbye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!” That’s what the White Rabbit said to Alice when they met for the very first time in Walt Disney’s version of Alice in Wonderland.

I could feel my blood boiling… the vein on my neck started to pulse harder. My breathing got heavier. I was holding the steering wheel so tight that my knuckles lost colour. I was pressing hard on the brake and only releasing it occasionally to inch forward. And then the news hit the radio: A five-car accident (pile-up they called it) on Alex Fraser Bridge! Stupid Drivers!!!

Argh! That explains why I have been sitting in traffic for nearly an hour without a chance of making a “legal and safe” U-turn!

I started to get mad at everything and anything that moved around me, including those crows that ever-so-freely flew overhead. How dare they? Can’t they see that I’m sitting in traffic, unable to fly like them? Are they teasing me? I totally could see it: a bunch of birds sitting on the hydro wire pointing down and laughing at me.

And suddenly, there it was; the moment my fellow commuters and I were all waiting for: Traffic was moving forward, albeit, ever so slowly! Hooray! I will get to work today!

And then it hit me hard; I was so consumed by my own frustration and anger that at no point in time did I think about those poor drivers that were involved in the accident. I didn’t care if anyone was hurt or if there were children in the cars. I didn’t care whether any of them survived the accident and if any of them said their goodbyes to their families in the morning for one last time. All I could think about was how they “made” me be late for work.

So has my punctuality taken a front seat to humanity? Have I become so consumed by my own interest that all else around me has no importance? Would I want others to think of me as an “inconvenience” should I ever be involved in an accident?

Thanks for reading,

Armin

PS. I was only 4 minutes late for work this morning!