A Small Dose of Orange-Striped Perspective

When some crazy teenage driver starts yelling at you for absolutely no reason, just smile back at her.

I was jamming out to Jack Johnson and quickly speeding down the road so that I could be somewhat timely (an unlikely ideal) to my dog-walking date with my best friend. With the breeze wafting through my rolled-down window, I was happy, lighthearted, carefree... WHAT? BIG ORANGE "ROAD CLOSED" SIGN? Say goodbye to aforementioned adjectives. Oh boy, was I mad. That's the second time that road has been closed this year, and in a little town like mine, closing a street is a major inconvenience.

Feeling as such, I proceeded to speak my mind to the striped orange obstacle. "Why the heck are you here? You're so dumb! Can't you just go away and let me drive down the street?!"

Note to self: Never yell at roadblocks.

Especially when there is an innocent woman standing on the side of the road who happens to be in hearing distance of this conversation - and who might, in her naïvete to the new trend of talking to inanimate objects, think that you are screaming at her.
Rightfully so, the lady also put in her two cents on the issue in the form of a raised middle finger and a "What the hell did I ever do to you?"

Because I was so involved in my hatred toward the sinister sign, I didn't realize just what I had put that helpless bystander through until it was too late to apologize (I feel a Chris Brown song coming on.) Now, though, I feel terrible about the incident. It was never my intention to ruin someone's day because of a not-even-really-that-big-of-a-deal hindrance in the street.

As the old adage says, things are not always as they seem. It seems like foods that taste good should make you look good too, beautiful love should never turn to tragic heartbreak, and all journalists should be millionaires. (All right, so maybe that last one is opinion.)

Life has its fair share of barriers, whether it be in the form of a traffic mechanism or a 17-year old who should perhaps watch her temper a little more. Here's the kicker, though. We choose our own destiny. And we choose to either approach these impediments with poise and problem-solving skills, or we choose to let them destroy us. The trampoline to lunge us over them is just a wee bit of perspective.

And to you, poor, innocent pedestrian, my deepest apologies.