The yellow light problem

There's no way to prove this, but I suspect I run into more yellow lights than the average bear.

There's that green light far away. You see it through your windshield as clearly as a moth sees a candle, as clearly as a ship in a storm sees the beacon from the lighthouse, as clearly as all of those overdone Christmas lights everybody in Spokane will hang, oh, just a coupla weeks from now ...

There's that green light far away ... and I just KNOW it'll turn yellow right before I get to it.

After everybody else comfortably drives through the green, when Mr. Dave draws nigh, boom: YELLOW.

Yellow for Mr. Dave.

Yellow for Mr. Dave.

Yellow for Mr. Dave. For crying out loud.

This has been one of the BANES of my life since I was a young man in Philadelphia. With two kids, then three kids, in tow. With a wife sitting quietly -- then not-so-quietly -- next to me, knowing that I'm stewing about the next stupid traffic light, which I'm absolutely sure will turn yellow just as I get there.

What nobody else in the world has to worry about -- because they all get the green -- is always a MOMENT OF DECISION for me because...

Boom: guess what? It just turned yelloooooooow. You must be right there at the intersection, aren't you, Dave? You jerk.

Do I stop? Do I rush through it? Do I risk a ticket? Do I look like a fool by stopping halfway into the intersection and then sheepishly putting my car in reverse, going back to "go" with my tail between the rear tires?

I must admit I've muttered things that should not be muttered at many traffic intersections.

Things that should NOT be muttered.

And a philosophical slob like me tends to generalize this misfortune to larger domains of life. Is my entire life a story of coming up to yellow lights??? Everybody else slipping comfortably through. But I have to wait in suspense because ... I just might not get through. I just might have to wait. It might all turn yellow on me. How many years of my life have been spent waiting because of this YELLOW LIGHT PROBLEM???

But a sure sign of getting older is that I've actually come to appreciate those yellow lights -- one of which I just got prior to writing this (which gave me the idea of writing this).

These days I almost always stop at yellow lights. They are times to pause and be thankful, to be reminded that I don't have to rush to the next forgettable obligation.

If God counts the hairs of our heads, He surely must also have designed all of those yellow lights. And because I get more yellows than most, I'm one blessed guy.

Logos2Go

Matthew 10-29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.