Much is being

written about slow-poke drivers clogging up the left lanes of our county's

roads.

It all started

with a Cal Beverly column on the front page of the Wednesday paper week

before last. He made a good suggestion that could take the steam out of

some road rage. Slow drivers need to drive in the right lane so drivers

in a hurry can pass in the left lane.

That column

must have struck a nerve based on reader response in last Wednesday's

paper. The venting about "left-lane laggards" continued, but

this traffic tirade expanded to traffic light issues and bashing bicyclists.

Like Cal, I'm

surprised that we haven't heard more from the left lane drivers. The "hurry

up and get over" people have had their say, but where is the feedback

from the crowd on the left? I expected someone to counter with, "do

you think you own the road?" and "what's wrong with a rolling

roadblock?" And "what's the matter with your finger?"

Well, here

I am, a left-lane driver, but I'm not even close to a slow poke who is

oblivious to the caravan behind him. I'm like plenty of folks going

the speed limit and still ticking off drivers riding our bumper. Often

we can't get over because the car on the right is going the speed limit.

If we increase our speed, we'd be the ones pulled over for speeding since

we're leading the pack. ("But officer, I was being pushed to 75 mph

the car on the right, that just increases the rage from the trailing driver.

I confess I'm

a habitual speeder. My right foot is too heavy. Around town I try to drive

the speed limit, but on the open road, I catch myself regularly going

5-10 mph over, especially on the interstate (even preachers have imperfections;

I'm working on it). I'm not proud of this, but last summer on vacation

I even got pulled over in a federal park for going 34 mph in a 20 mph

zone. I got a warning, but that's a first for me.

There have

been many times when I'm going five mph over in the left lane of a Fayette

County highway, and still some driver flies up behind me, flashes his

lights and acts like he's on the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

I've got to

tell you, that ticks me off. Did you know preachers can be ticked off?

Maybe I've been one who has added to this road rage ruckus because if

you ride my bumper when I'm already going over the speed limit, buddy,

you're in too big a hurry. And if you have the nerve to flash your lights,

normally I don't get over. You can seethe and stomp and spit all day long

until you back off my bumper . And if you keep on building rage,

one of those protruding blood vessels may just pop right out of your neck.

I wouldn't

want that to happen, so I'll make a deal with you. From now on, if for

some reason you think you have to go faster than I'm already speeding,

if you'll back off my bumper, then I'll go ahead and move over as soon

as I have the first opportunity.

But leave it

to a preacher to bring up the bottom-line of this whole left lane, right

lane issue. Whatever happened to good, old fashioned kindness and courtesy?

Where did "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another"

(Eph. 4:32) go? Do we lose all patience when we get behind the wheel?

Irritations and pet peeves aside, are we really in that big of

a hurry? Isn't life too short to get all out of sorts over some pokey

driver? What kind of witness are we presenting when we drive? And what

are we teaching our children?

Instead of

seeing them as a nuisance, is it possible to see these left-lane slow-pokes

as a reminder to slow down and enjoy the drive? To stop and smell the

roses? Let's just be nice out there. And as you fly by me, I'll give you

a friendly nod and the warmest wave I can.

(Dr. David

L. Chancey is pastor of McDonough Road Baptist Church, Fayetteville. The

church family meets at 352 McDonough Road and invites you to join them

for Bible study at 9:45 a.m. and worship at 10:55 a.m. this Sunday.)

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