I am #1.
People love me. They constantly tell me so. And they show me too. Flashing me the "you are #1" sign all the time. Especially when I'm in the car, particularly during this warm, loving holiday season.
At least, that's how I choose to view it.
In actuality, the #1 sign is... the finger.
I thought the left lane on the highway was for passing only. Heck, I even thought there was a law saying so in Pennsylvania. But time after time over the Thanksgiving weekend, as I endeavored to get out from behind slowpokes clogging the left lane, I was shown that I was wrong. That I was in fact…#1.
Then there was the little old lady in the parking lot. The one in the beat up old car speeding around a corner, making a beeline for a parking space I was nearly already pulled in to. The lady had a patch covering one eye. The one who never even glanced at me with her one good eye. She too threw up an arm and waved the #1 salute at me as she screeched to a halt in what I thought was my space.
A little old lady… With an eye patch… Flipping me off… during the holidays.
Is this what’s it come to?
Is it impatience? Self-importance? Rudeness? A false sense of entitlement? What makes people driving along the highway at 60 speed up to 80 just so you can’t get around them? What makes people cut other people off for parking spaces, when another is available 30 feet away? The rage is palpable. Thank God most people are only packing a finger.
And have you ever looked these people in the eye? (That is if they are brave enough to glance in your direction.) It can feel like staring into a deep, dark void filled with meanness. A place where no happiness lives, none.
But this is the holiday season. Aren’t we supposed to be happy? Lights are strung, carols sung and an overall festive mood surrounds us. All we need to do is open our eyes to it and invite it into our world. If only just for a little while…
And the next time you feel the urge to tell someone like me, a total stranger, that we are #1, think about how you feel inside. Wouldn’t you be better off if you just let the urge pass? Take a deep breath, enjoy the season and flash a smile instead of the finger.
Then you’ll feel like #1.
Previous Columns: Station Information: Copyright 2004 by ThePittsburghChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
