Somewhere around 5C/41F when I left the house this morning, but I dressed appropriately so I wasn’t cold at all, even with bare legs between my shorts and socks.
Early in my commute, I came to a stop at a red light. It’s a pretty long light. I waited for cross traffic to clear, then when I determined that (1) there was no danger to myself and (2) there was no way I would inconvenience anyone else, I crossed against the red. A guy stopped across the intersection from me, driving a late model heavy-duty pickup truck pulling a fancy boat, hollered out his open window, “You’re an a*****e!”, to which I hollered back, “So are you!”. No one has ever complimented me on having a quick wit.
After having some time to contemplate the incident, I concluded that (grade-school playground comeback aside) if someone is so entitled as to call me out on an infraction that affected him and anyone else in no way whatsoever, then he probably really is an a******e, and that he would probably do the same thing were he in my shoes. I’m convinced his insult was borne out of jealousy rather than a desire to remind me the rule of law.
A little while later, I was hefting my sorry carcass out of the valley, when I heard a ding!, and what appeared to be an older woman riding an e-bike cruised past me. Naturally, my first instinct was to holler, “You’re an a*****e!” at her. Just kidding. My REAL first instinct was to smugly think to myself that if I WAS an a*****e like the guy in the pickup truck, THEN my first instinct would be to hurl insults. But I’m not an a*****e… right?
I’ve spent far too much time thinking about this. On a happier note, I stopped to take the annual obligatory Edmonton’s River Valley Enshrouded in Fog photo. Enjoy! Have a great day everyone.
