“The Trip Down South Saga” starts with our regular drive to Surrey from Northamptonshire that we took a few weeks ago to see my parents. After a few junctions of the M40 the information signs started warning us about the motorway being closed further down. We had been lucky in the past only ever having this situation once before. I was remarkably relaxed about the thought of a detour (as the driver) and my wife started planning an alternative route, who was not so relaxed! Junction after junction the signs still read motorway closed, so plans were firmed up as to our detour.
The overhead signs now denoted that the outer lanes were closed. As is usual with these situations we filter into the open lane along with all the other courteous motorists while the others continued to drive down the closed lanes and get ahead of the forming queue. I should explain that my wife is not very understanding of motorists trying to push-in. She started to shout at the cars as they sped past us. The drivers were completely unaware of her anger however I was becoming quite anxious.
We pulled off the motorway and my wife had decided that the alternative route worked out by the Highways Agency was going to be jammed up so we would take an alternative route. We must have gone about a mile when the traffic came to a stand still. She was now getting really annoyed with our situation and I feared what was going to happen. As I was driving this was not a situation where I could distract myself with worry beads or to be honest anything else. I had an idea, perhaps I could? In my top pocket I had my “2Pears” and I took it out and hung it on the steering wheel. Tricks were out of the question, however I had chosen my pears well and I studied and stroked the two pieces of oak whilst glancing up regularly to check on the traffic, it worked!
We started to move and I dropped the 2Pear into my lap so as not to disrupt my driving. We stopped again, and I lifted the 2Pears back onto the wheel. I felt clam, surprisingly, but next to me all was not well. We started to move again and arrived at a roundabout. The car in front was in the wrong lane, or like us completely confused where he was supposed to go, but they swap lanes back and forwards, leaving us completely confused how to avoid being hit by them. My wife cannot restrain herself any longer and sounds the horn whilst giving the other driver driving tips (if you see what I mean). This normally sends my anxiety levels off the scale, a mixture of embarrassment and anger. I do feel for my wife as she has no patience for people who endanger others however we do disagree on what to do about it. The car moved away from us and we settled back into another stationary position. She clams down almost immediately as the incident has closed, however I am not wired the same way and would normally spend the next hour trying to calm down. But not this time……
Those brief interruptions I had introduced to proceedings using the 2Pears were enough to stop me reacting. Instead of an uncomfortable situation I could not help but laugh, as we saw the sign to get back onto the motorway. I know this sounds so unlikely but I am afraid this is completely true.
Please feel free to make any comments or share a similar story.
Kevin
The English Worry Bead Co
www.englishworrybeads.uk