Being Nice

We have a four-way stop at an intersection near my house that I use several times a day.  The law is that the first car at the intersection goes next.  But that isn’t exactly the way that it should work.  If someone is going straight across, the car facing them should go WITH the first car.  That efficiently lets two cars cross for the price of one.  And, if car one is turning left, and they properly use their turn signal, the car facing them who is also turning left can go because neither will be in the path of the other.  So, you see, there are many decisions that should be made quickly and efficiently to keep traffic moving.  But when two cars arrive simultaneously, confusion arises.  Who goes first?  So, today, even though I was at the intersection a split-second before the other car, to avoid confusion, I motioned the car facing me to go first.  But they hesitated.  They probably had a mini heart attack caused by me being nice to them.  So, I motioned them on a second time.  They were wasting precious time at the four-way intersection.  They finally turned left in front of me, and I turned right behind them following them to the next intersection.  But the next intersection was a traffic signal, which had been green for us, but had turned yellow with just enough time for them to get through, but not for “nice” me to get through.  At that moment, as I slowed to a stop at the red light, I was not feeling nice.  I had been nice to them, but their hesitation had cost me the green/yellow light.  So, I took a deep breath (at the red light), exhaled slowly, and took some pleasure in knowing that the good Lord had witnessed my act of kindness.  Really.  Jesus said in Luke 6:38, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”  If I am nice to folk, the dear Lord sees and knows.  And I would rather God seeing me than another driver seeing me.  After all, in the whole scheme of things who is more important?  Me, the other driver, or the good Lord above?