Look up ... please!

It seemed like I might have enough time to make it to the car dealer before closing time and get the much delayed oil change done.

It was a gorgeous spring day in the valley.  I drove with the sunroof open and the driver side window down, fully aware that I was inviting trouble by exposing myself to the pollen.

Trouble came from behind in the form of a car that alternated between coming dangerously close to me and falling way behind.  My immediate thought was, well, it was a trump voter who wants to intimidate me.  But, such a voter driving a Prius?  That didn't seem likely.

When the car pulled close again, I looked at the driver's face in the mirror.  It was a young woman whose head was down.  A driver whose attention was more on the smartphone in her lap than on the road ahead!

I survived the driver and reached the car service shop.  I handed the key and stood under the warm sun, and watched the mechanic open up the hood and then slide under the vehicle.

He didn't reach for the tools, however.

He got his smartphone out and texted.  And then put it back in his overalls.  He tinkered for a couple of minutes and it was back to the smartphone again.

Thank heavens I was not watching a heart or a brain surgery!  Imagine if the surgeon took a time out to check her text and to reply!

When they handed me the key back, I hoped that my loyal vehicle had survived this texting technician.  I started driving.

A pickup truck raced up in the other lane, drew parallel with me.  And then fell back.  This time I was really worried that it was a trump voter.  My heart started racing.  No wonder my muscles are stressed out all the time!

Again the pickup truck evened with me, and then kept going.  You guessed it; the driver was focused on the smartphone--which the passenger was holding up for him!  The two young men couldn't care, apparently, for the road and the traffic.

A couple minutes later, I reached the intersection as the light turned red.  I stopped, and worried about the car behind me that seemed to be coming at me at full speed.  It came to a stop only inches from my vehicle.  Phew!

And then it happened.  The car slowly moved and it gently bumped against my vehicle.  Yep.

 I knew that it could not have caused any damage at that snail crawl.  I looked into the side mirror in order to get an idea of the driver.  A young woman who seemed freaked out with the realization that she had bumped--even if only gently--my vehicle.

But, no apology hand from her.  She was too freaked out, I think.  When the light turned green, when she got the space, she shifted into the other lane and sped away.

I survived all these not-so-smart people with their smartphones!