I’m the Idiot

You know how it is….watching someone else do something totally stupid, whether in person or on America’s Funniest Home Videos.  I know how I am…I sit back, roll my eyes, and think to myself, “What an idiot!”  Well, today, that person was me.

I was leaving an evening appointment after a long day at the office.  It was an area I was familiar with since I had lived there many years ago.  However, I hadn’t driven there since they put in light rail and reconfigured the streets and signals.  Combine that with being tired and the sun shining in your face and it was a recipe for stupidity.

The first mistake I made was talking to CF while I was trying to navigate the streets.  To my credit, I was using the hands-free feature of my car, however it was a distraction.  I also had my visor all the way down since it was nearing sunset and I couldn’t see anything above eyebrow level.

I approached the intersection to enter the freeway and something seemed wrong.  All of a sudden, there wasn’t a signal telling me whether I could go or not.  I found myself partly in an intersection with the light rail tracks right in front of me.

Confusion set in.  All I could think of was where the hell is the stoplight and do I go for it or sit here and look like an idiot?  Calm prevailed over anxiety and I decided I didn’t want to chance punching it for fear of getting hit by a train.

I decided the best thing to do was sit and wait.  There were cars behind me and soon I realized that was where I should have stopped in the first place.  Cross traffic was going through the intersection so I waited for them and watched for the cars behind me to move.  I then figured it was okay to go ahead and enter the freeway.

Luckily, I was correct and all turned out fine.  I was very grateful I didn’t panic and take an unnecessary risk.  Although I felt like a complete moron sitting out in the middle of the road, I’d rather eat some humble pie than get hit by a train.

It didn’t hit me until I arrived at CF’s house how the outcome could’ve been much worse.  I was beating myself up for being so stupid when CF reminded me that my calm approach is what kept me safe and I did the right thing.  I may have been the idiot of the moment, but at least I didn’t appear on the evening news.