“Do not pity the Dead, pity the Living…”
Whilst approaching a roundabout this afternoon, on my way to get petrol for the car, I noticed a funeral car with a procession of vehicles behind it, waiting to come out onto the road. It was led by a Funeral director, stood on foot waiting to step out into the road and clear the way for the procession. I stopped since the road was clear, and flashed so that they could begin their journey. You’d do the same right? Yet a ridiculous man pulled up beside me, beeped his horn long and hard, and stuck his middle finger up at me for not launching myself onto the roundabout and into the path of this procession. He then proceeded to overtake me and hit the roundabout at full speed…until he noticed why I’d actually stopped.
He had the good sense to look ashamed after that, and he waited for the cortege to clear, which by the way was incredibly long – so many people were following to the funeral. But all it took, out of my whole day, was one and a half minutes. I was intrigued, so I checked. I wonder if the man knew that, or if he’d seen it as a huge inconvenience that was going to make him late for every single appointment for at least the rest of the weekend let alone day. Do we take the time, enough, to appreciate that there are other people around us – with other things going on in their lives? Do we even know that these very people depend on us for the smallest things, like courtesy on a roundabout, just as we would for them?
Kathryn Dawson Photography 