Inner Voice Offers Wise Counsel

When we make mistakes, we can learn from them - if our hearts and minds are open. Recently, I had a wonderful opportunity to do just that. As a coach operator for Spokane Transit Authority, I bear witness to plenty of acts from irresponsible drivers. Several weeks ago, while waiting behind cars at a red light, I witnessed a man who I figured must have been completely insane. He pulled out of a gas station and attempted to enter traffic. He did this by squeezing his car between the front of my bus and the rear of the car in front of me.

Without even pausing to see if there was any traffic coming along in the two lanes next to me - and there was - he zipped across all three lanes searching for his desired spot. I held my breath as all oncoming traffic was forced to stop so as to not smash into this wretched, reckless fool.

While observing this, I developed an immediate and distasteful opinion about this fellow. What a stupid idiot! Several passengers on the bus also made remarks along the lines of what I was thinking. Alas, what goes around comes around.

Two days later I was again driving my route. I pulled over to let a passenger off. A car was parked just in front of the bus stop and I knew I would have to swing the bus pretty wide, dipping into the outside lane to get safely around the car. I gazed into my rearview mirror and noticed traffic approaching in the second lane. It was going to be tight.

As I looked at that shrinking space, I suddenly heard a small voice in the back of my head say, “Don’t do it. It won’t fit.” I like to think of this voice as a combination guardian angel, God and my driver’s intuition. I chose not to listen. Even so, my stomach knotted and I knew too late I should’ve listened to the inner voice. As I pulled out, the right rear of the bus just caught the car’s outside mirror, pulling it nearly off. I pulled the bus to the side of the road and did all the things I’m required to do.

How did I feel? Like an idiot, embarrassed and ashamed. However, I learned something from it. I finally made a connection between my actions and the reckless driver. He had done a foolish thing. So had I. His ego led him into treacherous territory. So had mine. Although his haste did not make waste, mine did. I came to realize that I was no better than him, which gave me another lesson on not judging others, lest I should walk in their shoes.

I also learned it is important to listen to that inside voice, no matter how quietly it is whispering to me.