Signs of Aging

I was sitting at a red light yesterday, waiting for the light to turn green so I could make a left-hand turn. A pick-up truck was on my right, in the right-turn-only lane. The truck suddenly turned left- in front of me, into the oncoming traffic- and attempted to make a u-turn. 

I watched in disbelief as the teenage driver of the truck negotiated a three-point turn in order to complete his illegal maneuver, causing traffic on the intersecting road to stop and wait. 

As he passed by my driver's side window- which I had rolled down- I shook my head sternly and said, "Don't do that again." My young friend made some kind of face back at me and went on his way. I was infuriated.

I thought about that scene from the movie,"Fried Green Tomatoes" when the older lady crashes her car into a younger lady's car after the younger one had stolen a parking space. The older lady justified her actions by saying, "I'm older and I have more insurance." I admit an unkind thought might have entered my mind for just a second until the light turned green and I could go on my way.

I'm not so far removed from adolescence to remember how teenagers sometimes operate in a bubble of impulsive, indifferent immaturity- never stopping to consider how their actions and behaviors may impact other people. And I'm really not one of those people who believe that all of the world's problems are the fault of "these kids today." I like to think that I'm fairly open-minded about the unique challenges of the teenage years and pretty forgiving as well.

But I did find myself ranting in the car- "I'm an adult and a taxpayer! I work for a living and my taxes pay for road like this for punks like you to drive on!!" Might as well have called him a "whippersnapper."  Dang- I am getting old.

In the end, the kid in the truck got away with his action...this time. But I was able to use the experience as a teachable moment for my own teenaged son, who was with me in the car. The lesson went something like this- "I may not be able to bust that kid's butt, but I can bust yours if you ever do anything stupid like that!"

Then I asked him to fetch me my Geritol.