Where we live,
traffic is nasty. It is slow, congested, clogged, you name it. I have to admit
that at times, my impatience gets the better of me. I try to relax and go with
the flow, or lack thereof, play my music and sing along, but traffic usually
gets the better of me. Unfortunately.
The left lane is
supposed to be the fast lane. Obviously, there are speed limits and there are
good reasons for speed limits. But when a driver “camps” out in the fast lane
and travels at a lesser speed, that is annoying. Cars move into the middle lane
to pass around the car and then move over into the fast lane ahead of the
driver, and the driver still doesn’t get a clue. It’s dangerous as well as
annoying.
When you pull up
to a red light and the red light turns green and no one moves, that is
annoying. Especially if that driver is fiddling with his or her phone, it’s
dangerous and thoughtless. The green light or green arrow only lasts so long,
right?
Or when you pull
up to a red light and the car in front of you sets two car lengths behind the
car in front, that is annoying. Again, the green light or arrow only lasts a
short amount of time and not everyone will get through because of this one car
setting way back behind the car in front.
Or when you pull
up to a four-way stop and each driver politely takes their turn to move
forward, except for that one driver who might lose track of who is supposed to
go next or who deliberately decides he or she is in too much of a hurry to
wait.
Okay, I’m going to
stop right here . . .
I ranted for about
five paragraphs. I vented. I took your valuable time and unloaded on you. It
didn’t feel very good, did it? Perhaps it even fired you up a little . . . or a
lot.
You might have
been having a bright and sunny day and I just rained all over it. Reading my
rant might have changed your outlook, your disposition, and your attitude, not
to mention how you might interact with others.
Your next
interaction, if you decide to carry further my ranting, affects that person,
and that person who is then interacted with, and so on. Much like Typhoid Mary
passing her disease on to others.
Yes, there are
times and there are places where venting and ranting might be acceptable.
Perhaps. Sometimes something might happen that helps us reach our boiling point
and like a volcano spewing lava and ash all over, we spew anger and wrath and
angst. We change people’s attitudes from happy to sad, from content to anxiety,
from peace to turmoil.
And we are the
cause. We CHOOSE to let a situation or individual get the better of us. It’s
how we CHOOSE to react that upsets us and others around us, those with whom we
interact.
When we look at it
objectively, we’re selfish. We’re placing our own feelings and needs ahead of
others. And when you think about it, ranting and raving don’t do much to help
us anyway. The net cause is still present: the way we CHOSE to respond and
interact. Our spewing doesn’t do much of anything except to ruin another
individual’s mood and day. It’s unfair and selfish. Something to think about .
. .
To My Readers:
I will be selling
and signing copies of my book, Caught in
a Web at:
Barnes & Noble
Sunday, October 7
at 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
1220 Carl D.
Silver Parkway
Fredericksburg, VA
22401
Today, Oct. 5 and Tomorrow, Oct. 6 are the last two
days to purchase the Kindle version of Caught in a Web for only .99 (cents!)
You can purchase your copy on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696
And please, if you
do give Caught in a Web a shot,
please leave a rating and a review. I would appreciate it. Thanks for this
consideration!
Caught in a Web:
The bodies of high
school and middle school kids are found dead from an overdose of heroin and
fentanyl. The drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors and the Milwaukee
Metro area is controlled by MS-13, a violent gang originating from El Salvador.
Ricardo Fuentes is sent from Chicago to Waukesha to find out who is cutting in
on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior
motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay, who had killed his
cousin the previous summer.
Detectives Jamie
Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the drugs,
shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else, especially
George or members of his family. The three detectives discover the ring has its
roots in a high school among the students and staff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696
Also Available on Amazon for .99 the Lives Trilogy
Prequel, Taking Lives
FBI Agent Pete
Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys
left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they don’t know
one another, the lives of FBI Agent Kelliher and two boys become interwoven
with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them
are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in jeopardy as
each search for a way out. http://bit.ly/Taking-Lives-JLewis
Connect with me on Social Media:
Twitter at
@jrlewisauthor
Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
photo on Unsplash by Eric Ward
