The metro Atlanta area is notorious for heavy traffic. Cherokee County added over 8,000 new residents in 2019, and that trend is not expected to end in the near future, so traffic stresses are not likely to decrease any time soon.
Although there is talk that autonomous vehicles will one day dominate the highways, providing constant speeds, maintained lanes, and strategic spacing, that day may have been delayed with the recent Tesla crashes. In the meantime, most everyone can improve upon driving etiquette as well as follow traffic laws.
State law requires motorists to maintain a safe distance between themselves and the car in front of them, so don’t try to intimidate other cars to move over. On the other hand, if you are the lead car, you are required to move over/change lanes when a car approaches you from behind. Also, when a car is merging onto the road, be courteous and either move over or slow down, so the driver’s speed can be maintained as the merge is completed.
However, being kind to our fellow citizens should not be limited to our roadways. In the past, people often stopped their cars short of their garage to speak to neighbors, or they picked up the neighbor’s newspaper from the yard or moved their garbage can up to their home for them.
If we had a problem with someone, we followed God’s word from Matthew 18:15: “If a believer does something wrong, go and confront him when the two of you are alone!” We didn’t post our grievance on social media outlets for others to see and add comments.
On this past Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I read the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to my family. It paints a picture of a community unable and unwilling to collaborate, communicate, or compromise. Dr. King reprimands the church for being apathetic and content, allowing the status quo. This letter is just as relevant today.
Martin Luther King Jr. had several famous quotes, but two of my favorites are, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” and “Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”
When I got home the other day, my wife was watching a Hallmark movie about a man who lost his wife to cancer, and then a drought threatened to destroy his farm. While it was easy to sympathize with this man, it was frustrating to witness his constant anger, especially when he directed it at his 12-year-old daughter.
During one scene in which the character was cursing God for his lot in life, his dad pulled him aside and asked him to look out over the valley and describe what he saw. He responded that he saw a house and some dried-out fields.
Irritated by his son’s perspective, the father sternly said, “What you see below is your partner! God provided you with this home and the farm when your wife was alive, and they remain with you during this tough time. They are your grounded reminder that you have memories to cling to and a life to build for you and your daughter.”
This story is a great reminder that our family and neighbors are our partners in life, and we should not take them for granted or push them away.
to your business!