Day 265- Thankful for semis

For a long time as a driver I have had an aversion to semis (a.k.a. lorries, 18-wheelers, or tractor trailers). To be honest they kind of scare me.

They are big and impossible to see around if one gets too close.
They create a wind as they pass that physically moves smaller cars so that drivers have to correct their course.
In heavy rain, they create a spray that brings down visibility to even less than it would have been, and trying to follow too close behind becomes a very dangerous thing to do.
And, in melting snow, the fine mist that they create plasters dirty chemical film on windows and windshields of vehicles they pass or who pass them.

I felt I was justified in disliking these huge vehicles.

until recently…

Since certain economic problems have arisen that I don’t want to talk about, less and less semis have been on the road. With my former attitude, I would have been glad. I must say I’m sorry now. I didn’t even realize how I was taking these vehicles and their drivers for granted. Sad, I know.

It’s strange how we don’t realize how selfish our attitudes are until the things that bothered us suddenly are proven to be necessities.

With the reduction of semis on the roads, there has also been a reduction of food at the supermarket. Hmm. That consequence had never occurred to me before. It’s crazy how I still sometimes have to learn things the hard way after all these years. It’s time for me to work on my behind-the-wheel attitude, to stop being in a hurry to get places, and to do a better job of being a gracious and cautious driver.

I’m reminded of a proverb written before trucks were invented (but it conveys a similar idea):