The Law Of The Garbage Truck

I have mentioned before that driving is one my least favorite activities in my world. I am such an angry little person when other drivers do the stupidest stuff I have ever seen, or just don't follow the basic traffic laws. The other thing that gets me worked up is the blatant rudeness of people (i.e. grocery stores and other retail places). It seems that the people around me are too busy being in their own little world using their stupid loser cell phones and other pieces of technology that they forget that they are affecting people around them. I like this saying - "The Masses are Asses" - I won't say who has said that, I just like it. This person also says that there is a lot of rage out there. Maybe there is maybe there isn't - it could be that or I am just a little too polite.

As a kid my mom always told me to watch out for the people and to not get in their way, I guess that stuck. If I'm in the store, pushing a cart around and I turn into an aisle and encounter another shopper I'll probably be the one who apologizes first...I have found that other people rarely do. Who raised these people?! When did it become okay to be rude? Maybe I'm not so much angry as I am annoyed.

Man, this post is almost like therapy. I guess I owe blogger a hundred bucks!

The following is from an email that I received at work the other day - it helps me to put things into perspective. Maybe I'll be less annoyed now...garbage is what it is...

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One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport.

We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy; and I mean, he was really friendly.

So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so...... 'Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.'

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it.