You already know that I have problems with my attitude toward stupid strangers, but there is one particular lawbreaker whoI find very, very difficult to love.
Jaywalkers. I am about to rant.
With car vs. car, the main concern is money. Whose insurance will cover what, whose fault was it, who has to pay, how much will it cost to fix, should we get a new car, etc. With car vs, pedestrian, the main concern is life. Is the person alive? Will they continue to be alive till they get to the hospital? After weeks of recovery will they be able to live normally again?
While I get annoyed with irresponsible drivers, I am genuinely afraid of jaywalkers. I want irresponsible drivers to get a ticket, or get in a non-injurious accident. I want them to feel the monetary pain of their decisions. But I don't want irresponsible jaywalkers to get hit by a car, because that would probably kill them and it would be horrible and people would naturally want to blame the driver who wasn't paying attention.
Jaywalkers inspire my ire more than any other stupid person, because I am so afraid of killing them. They expect drivers to see them, even if it's night and raining and they're wearing all black clothes. They expect drivers to keep their eyes on the road 100% of the time, and never look away to change the radio station. Basically, they expect the rest of the world to be responsible so they don't have to be. That's irritating enough. But the natural consequence of their actions is to get hit by a car, That's why I get more angry; because my anger is inspired by fear for their stupid lives.
Today I patiently waited for a family of four to walk across a crosswalk before I turned left. I didn't see a twelve-year old punk kid who decided to cross the street between two other cars who were waiting to go. I didn't see him because he was invisible. I slammed on my brakes to avoid running him over, and he gave me an angry look. I wondered if he thought he was close enough to the crosswalk that it "counted." I look for pedestrians on crosswalks and sidewalks, not pedestrians emerging between cars in traffic.
I also witnessed a pedestrian crossing at a crosswalk on a busy road that had a stoplight just for pedestrians. The man didn't bother pushing the button to turn on the light; he just crossed in front of me and I slammed on my brakes for him. Half right, dude - there's a crosswalk here just like there is at a busy intersection, but that doesn't mean you have the right of way until my light is red.
I see little kids doing it a lot lately. It's like a game for them. Three kids are on a sidewalk, two run across a busy street with cars swerving and braking the whole way, and the last kid is laughed at, physically and emotionally isolated from the group because he was too afraid to put his life in danger.
In my opinion, jaywalkers are the rudest of the rude. They force sinners operating heavy machinery to take responsibility for their lives. It's a pretty big assumption to make, that a sinner won't run a jaywalker over.
Of course, jaywalkers have weighed the risks in their minds. Most of them at least look for a gap in traffic before they dart across the road. Despite what it seems, they aren't actually trying to get killed; they're just trying to save some time standing at a light. They make assumptions, like, "There are no cops around. All of these drivers are going the same speed. No drivers will unexpectedly pull out of a driveway and accidentally hit me. All of these drivers have their eyes on the road. These drivers are looking out for me." They weigh different factors, like how likely they are to get hit and how stupid they'll look if they have to wait at a light, and how they'll get an adrenaline rush if they frantically cross the street versus waiting, and how much time they'll save if they jaywalk. Then they make the decision. It's usually not the right decision, but it is based on reason, even flawed reason.
Highway 167 has double white lines separating the HOV lane from the regular lanes. Everywhere are signs that say, ILLEGAL TO CROSS DOUBLE WHITE LINE. Once a car swished past me in the HOV lane going at least 80 MPH. The driver was suddenly foiled; in front of her was a car going a normal speed of about 65 MPH. She slammed on her breaks, tailgated the car until the double white line changed to a dashed line, then whipped around and resumed her normal speed. Oh, and she was alone in her car.
I found this situation so funny, because this lawbreaker would not cross the double white line. She had standards of what was okay road behavior and what was not. Speeding was okay, tailgating was okay. Riding solo in the carpool lane was okay. But crossing the double white line? No, she wouldn't do that because it's illegal.
Clearly she, like the jaywalker, had a system. She sped because she assumed there were no cops around; but if she really thought there were no cops around, then why did she feel so uncomfortable crossing the double white line? She wasn't breaking the law for the sake of breaking the law; she was doing it because she was late, or impatient, or she disagreed with the speed limit, or she thought the carpool lane should be an extra fast lane. I'm sure she didn't believe she was actually putting anyone in danger. She made assumptions that led to her decision of how to drive. And one of those assumptions was that it is more illegal to cross the double white line than to break other traffic laws.
I have crossed the double white line before. My excuse is that I didn't realize my exit was coming up so quickly. And I have assumptions too. I assume that, even though it's illegal to cross the double white line, it's less dangerous to cross it than to go 80 mph or ride someone's tail. I assume it's less of a sin than it would be to ride solo in the carpool lane. I also assume there are no cops around.
I guess what I'm realizing is that we all pick and choose which parts of the law to break, justifying some and not others. But the bottom line is that if we break any part of the law, we have broken the whole law. When I cross the double white line, I am breaking the law even though I have a great excuse and I'm not speeding. And when this woman speeds and tailgates and rides solo in the HOV lane, she is breaking the law even if she isn't crossing the double white line.
I'm realizing the point is that Christ has set a law for us. I may snap at my husband, but he maybe deserved it (which, by the way, is saying "that person broke the law so I can break it too"), and at least I didn't yell at him or hit him or rain verbal abuse on him. But if I act unloving toward someone, then I have broken the law - God's law - just like a woman who manipulates or abuses her husband has broken the law. If I fantasize after a man other than my husband, then I have broken the law just like a woman who commits adultery has broken the law.
Christ's law is different from traffic laws because it's not specifically written out on paper; it's written on our hearts. There are only two laws: Love God and love others. And when it comes down to it, "loving others" is just part of loving God, since the "others" are God's creation and are made in his image. So really there is only one law: Love God. Which makes for very subjective "rules" and the need for very honest people.
(Confession: I hoped I'd feel more charitable toward jaywalkers after this post, but I don't.)
Jaywalkers. I am about to rant.
With car vs. car, the main concern is money. Whose insurance will cover what, whose fault was it, who has to pay, how much will it cost to fix, should we get a new car, etc. With car vs, pedestrian, the main concern is life. Is the person alive? Will they continue to be alive till they get to the hospital? After weeks of recovery will they be able to live normally again?
While I get annoyed with irresponsible drivers, I am genuinely afraid of jaywalkers. I want irresponsible drivers to get a ticket, or get in a non-injurious accident. I want them to feel the monetary pain of their decisions. But I don't want irresponsible jaywalkers to get hit by a car, because that would probably kill them and it would be horrible and people would naturally want to blame the driver who wasn't paying attention.
Jaywalkers inspire my ire more than any other stupid person, because I am so afraid of killing them. They expect drivers to see them, even if it's night and raining and they're wearing all black clothes. They expect drivers to keep their eyes on the road 100% of the time, and never look away to change the radio station. Basically, they expect the rest of the world to be responsible so they don't have to be. That's irritating enough. But the natural consequence of their actions is to get hit by a car, That's why I get more angry; because my anger is inspired by fear for their stupid lives.
Today I patiently waited for a family of four to walk across a crosswalk before I turned left. I didn't see a twelve-year old punk kid who decided to cross the street between two other cars who were waiting to go. I didn't see him because he was invisible. I slammed on my brakes to avoid running him over, and he gave me an angry look. I wondered if he thought he was close enough to the crosswalk that it "counted." I look for pedestrians on crosswalks and sidewalks, not pedestrians emerging between cars in traffic.
I also witnessed a pedestrian crossing at a crosswalk on a busy road that had a stoplight just for pedestrians. The man didn't bother pushing the button to turn on the light; he just crossed in front of me and I slammed on my brakes for him. Half right, dude - there's a crosswalk here just like there is at a busy intersection, but that doesn't mean you have the right of way until my light is red.
I see little kids doing it a lot lately. It's like a game for them. Three kids are on a sidewalk, two run across a busy street with cars swerving and braking the whole way, and the last kid is laughed at, physically and emotionally isolated from the group because he was too afraid to put his life in danger.
In my opinion, jaywalkers are the rudest of the rude. They force sinners operating heavy machinery to take responsibility for their lives. It's a pretty big assumption to make, that a sinner won't run a jaywalker over.
Of course, jaywalkers have weighed the risks in their minds. Most of them at least look for a gap in traffic before they dart across the road. Despite what it seems, they aren't actually trying to get killed; they're just trying to save some time standing at a light. They make assumptions, like, "There are no cops around. All of these drivers are going the same speed. No drivers will unexpectedly pull out of a driveway and accidentally hit me. All of these drivers have their eyes on the road. These drivers are looking out for me." They weigh different factors, like how likely they are to get hit and how stupid they'll look if they have to wait at a light, and how they'll get an adrenaline rush if they frantically cross the street versus waiting, and how much time they'll save if they jaywalk. Then they make the decision. It's usually not the right decision, but it is based on reason, even flawed reason.
Highway 167 has double white lines separating the HOV lane from the regular lanes. Everywhere are signs that say, ILLEGAL TO CROSS DOUBLE WHITE LINE. Once a car swished past me in the HOV lane going at least 80 MPH. The driver was suddenly foiled; in front of her was a car going a normal speed of about 65 MPH. She slammed on her breaks, tailgated the car until the double white line changed to a dashed line, then whipped around and resumed her normal speed. Oh, and she was alone in her car.
I found this situation so funny, because this lawbreaker would not cross the double white line. She had standards of what was okay road behavior and what was not. Speeding was okay, tailgating was okay. Riding solo in the carpool lane was okay. But crossing the double white line? No, she wouldn't do that because it's illegal.
Clearly she, like the jaywalker, had a system. She sped because she assumed there were no cops around; but if she really thought there were no cops around, then why did she feel so uncomfortable crossing the double white line? She wasn't breaking the law for the sake of breaking the law; she was doing it because she was late, or impatient, or she disagreed with the speed limit, or she thought the carpool lane should be an extra fast lane. I'm sure she didn't believe she was actually putting anyone in danger. She made assumptions that led to her decision of how to drive. And one of those assumptions was that it is more illegal to cross the double white line than to break other traffic laws.
I have crossed the double white line before. My excuse is that I didn't realize my exit was coming up so quickly. And I have assumptions too. I assume that, even though it's illegal to cross the double white line, it's less dangerous to cross it than to go 80 mph or ride someone's tail. I assume it's less of a sin than it would be to ride solo in the carpool lane. I also assume there are no cops around.
I guess what I'm realizing is that we all pick and choose which parts of the law to break, justifying some and not others. But the bottom line is that if we break any part of the law, we have broken the whole law. When I cross the double white line, I am breaking the law even though I have a great excuse and I'm not speeding. And when this woman speeds and tailgates and rides solo in the HOV lane, she is breaking the law even if she isn't crossing the double white line.
I'm realizing the point is that Christ has set a law for us. I may snap at my husband, but he maybe deserved it (which, by the way, is saying "that person broke the law so I can break it too"), and at least I didn't yell at him or hit him or rain verbal abuse on him. But if I act unloving toward someone, then I have broken the law - God's law - just like a woman who manipulates or abuses her husband has broken the law. If I fantasize after a man other than my husband, then I have broken the law just like a woman who commits adultery has broken the law.
Christ's law is different from traffic laws because it's not specifically written out on paper; it's written on our hearts. There are only two laws: Love God and love others. And when it comes down to it, "loving others" is just part of loving God, since the "others" are God's creation and are made in his image. So really there is only one law: Love God. Which makes for very subjective "rules" and the need for very honest people.
(Confession: I hoped I'd feel more charitable toward jaywalkers after this post, but I don't.)
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