In our current individualistic society, not only are people only concerned about themselves…they also seem to move about in a hurried frenzy. We are so consumed by our agendas that we have a total disregard for others. This was apparent in the Marsh parking lot yesterday afternoon.

As I was preparing to exit the parking lot onto McGalliard at the exit nearest Noodles & Co, a large SUV pulled up behind me. Now, as I approached the exit, the light at McGalliard turned green. So, if you are familiar with Muncie, you understand that a large, continuous stream of traffic flooded the street. Of course, there were no openings for me to pull out. So, I had to patiently wait.

Patient waiting was obviously not on the agenda of the “Yorktown Soccer Mom” (as was proudly displayed on the back of the SUV) behind me. She let out a long honk. I  turned my head, pointed to the long line of traffic, and waved. I was extremely tempted to fly the bird. However, I kept my cool. This is when it got nuts. She pulls right beside me, cuts me off, and attempts to turn in front of me. Oh, and she also honked and gave me a dirty look.

My thought was, “What’s the emergency? Someone must be dying. That’s the only explanation for this kind of behavior.”

So, she tore out in front of me…squealing her tires. I also turned out. And, as I passed her at the stop light (she picked the slow lane), I gave a little beep, smiled, and waved. I don’t think I’ve ever received a more evil stare as I did in that moment. She then proceeded to weave in and out of traffic recklessly.

It’s all too obvious that she is extremely important (definitely more important than anyone else on that road). It’s obvious that whatever she was speeding off to was a matter of life or death. Certainly it wasn’t a matter of starting dinner a few minutes late because of busy traffic that spurred on this behavior.

Of course, once I saw the Yorktown soccer mom paraphernalia all over the back, I wasn’t surprised by the obnoxious behavior!

We live in a selfish society. We live in a culture where people expect what they want, when they want it. We live in an age where people are too consumed with themselves that they can’t wait until a line of traffic passes by. We can’t wait our turn. We have to push people out of our way. We get restless when we are forced to wait.

It was a good reminder to me that we truly need to slow down…and not just on the roads. We need to realize that it’s actually a good thing to be patient. We need to realize that others acutally are important. It’s when more and more of us learn to value others that this world might have a chance to improve.