Bobbleheads of Negativity

Have you ever made another driver so dissatisfied with your skill, or kindness, that they shake their head in disgust? Wait- first comes the "what the?" hand, then comes the head bobble. I've admittedly been dumb-founded by a fellow driver before. In fact, it happened just last week on one of those narrow streets that allows parking on both sides and is marked by cars-of-the-wise that have their side-view mirrors tucked back like a little bird protecting its wing feathers. There is an etiquette to navigating such a street, a kindness that one shows the driver coming in the other direction. Kind of a first-come, first-served manner in which the second vehicle pulls a tad to the side to allow the first vehicle to make the first pass. This particular woman rolled through her stop signs and barreled down the street, forcing me into, ugh, someone's side-view mirror.

So how did I respond? Ooops. There are those drivers however that use a hand gesture and then follow it up with a head-bobble that doesn't stop. Sometimes the person will still be behind me so I can see the entropic wobble. I wonder though, for those drivers that I can't see, how long does this head thing go on? Does it perpetuate another incident, rippling through all of city traffic? It's like reviews of businesses. All of the wonderful things that people write, the kind of things that bring a tear to the eye and a catch to the breath, the kinds of things that remind you why you do what you do, seem to be erased, at least momentarily, when someone takes the time to write something mean. Maybe they think they are being helpful to an unsuspecting customer (which I suppose doesn't give that customer much credit, assuming that they need to be warned of some non-obvious peril.) Maybe they are just seeking revenge for a wrong-doing that was likely never intended. But once that ripple of negativity is started....how does it end? It takes only one person, be it in cyberspace or in a group of real people.

What would happen if each of us turned that negative thought into a constructive one? One motivated by kindness. Could it create a ripple of heads bobbing up and down, saying "yes!" to good things? Well, I'll start here.

Dear ___________ (any person at whom I have ever directed negative anything), I am sorry, and I promise to do better. I appreciate that at the moment of _________ (whatever it was that happened), I could not have possibly known all of the circumstances at play. If I have an opportunity to see/work/play with you again, I promise to do better. Love, Candice.