Picking Up the Pace
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It may just be me being an old geezer or maybe not. It seems like the tempo out there has picked up a bit. Sometimes I almost feel like I’m in the Indy 500 as I see people riding my bumper or racing to cut in front at the I-30 overpass turning south down the service road. This week I almost put the El Camino into the median as I swerved with all my might to avoid being T-boned by a lady apparently on her phone. I don’t think she ever saw me as I scrambled for my life and that of Old Yellow, my trusted and steady steed. After barely missing hitting me broadside from a side street, she immediately cut through McDonald’s parking lot. She could have been a harried mom trying to get food for her family as she lost total awareness of there being traffic in front of her.
We all like to think we can handle two or three things at one time, but the experts say we actually can’t do but one thing well as we try to focus on what we’re doing. I like to take pride in chomping down on a chicken leg or a dollar burger as I eat and drive. I do tend to make a mess and sometimes find food on my shirt or maybe a little Dr. Pepper on my pants as I head to my next job.
Out on Hwy 19 as I head to the kids out at Birthright I frequently find myself pulling over to let the faster drivers by me so as not to stack up traffic. It’s a rural highway but traffic bunches up there like I-30. Try getting out onto 19 from the Mahoney highway. You may find yourself behind a line of several cars. The countryside is filling up with people. Sitting in my son’s front yard on a county road there is almost a steady stream of cars back and forth headed to Joe Bob’s or the Dollar General. I look up at the intersection of Hwy 19 and 71 and see three and four cars at the four-way stop. Joe Bob’s lot is full of business.
Where’s everybody coming from? Campaigning for my son out in the county a couple of years ago, I met new homeowners escaping from California and up North. Apparently the whole state of Texas is experiencing growing pains as we are. You can’t blame people for looking for a little more sensible way of life. On the other hand, if people moving in continue to maintain that old hectic rat race pace they’ve been used to, then Katie bar the door. You know us locals are not gonna stand for people cutting in front and riding our tail. Look out. Broadway overpass can resemble a drag race. Us old guys had better stay on our toes as the volume and speed of traffic around here can almost feel like taking your life into your hands. I may need to stock up on Depends as I get behind the wheel.
By Dr. Juan Harrison
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