Whoever You Are

So yesterday I was waiting in rush hour traffic to cross the Bay Bridge. I had misjudged which lanes were the carpool lanes, and had to cut in front of an unhappy, grumpy, annoyed man. The girl-smile-wave-thank-you didn't even make him happy. So we waited and waited and waited and waited.

Then I did a terrible thing: I paid the toll with a $100 bill. It was all I had. They make a big production of it: sighing, writing on it with the little marker, holding it up to the light, and even getting out of their booth to take down your license plate number. Everyone is so pissed off behind you. Sometimes they honk. But it's not like you're doing anything wrong by paying with a big bill, you know? It's a good problem to have!

I decided not to look at the grumpy man behind me until I pulled forward 5 feet to wait in another hour of traffic. That's when I got to see him look confused when the operator told him his toll had already been paid. That's when I got to see him wave and smile. I knew he'd come around.

p.s. He wasn't hot.