It's the smallest of all things
 

This was three months ago and every once in a while I remember it

I made a dumb diagram to show you what was happening

http://cellar.org/2015/broadintersection.jpg

I am the orange car and he is in the big semi/18-wheeler/articulated lorry

We are in the ghetto, going the same way, on a two-lane one-way street. We are about to turn left onto Broad St., a four-lane, two-way street.

We approach the intersection at roughly the same time. The light has been yellow for a while. I slow down and prepare to stop, especially because there's this big truck next to me.

But the truck doesn't stop. He pulls into the intersection just as the light goes red; and he's slowed down considerably.

So now this big-ass truck is in the intersection, and in a split-second I realize he's actually setting a pick for me -- because even though the light has turned, it will take him an extra three seconds for his back end to make it through. This means I can zip into that left lane on the red, if I care to.

So I start the move, and as I do, he glances down at me. At his angle, he sees me clearly. He's seeing that I took advantage of what he did. As I seem him seeing me, I am in some moment of utter clarity, and time has stood still;

~ this is the important part ~

I flash him a peace sign --

-- And he flashes peace right back.

It was like, the exact right gesture for the moment, or something. It said, you have done me a favor and I know it; if this is what you intended to happen, you did it for a driver who was paying attention; so now, I am doing it, and I'm staying in my lane, and I am cool with all this and you are too. It's the sort of thing that professional drivers must do for each other all the time, and to have me, some doof in an old Subaru, pick up the cue, made me proud of myself.

Plus he was black, and to have this type of interracial moment on the way into the shop made it all the more great.

It was the VERY SMALLEST of TINY moments, three seconds in time, and somehow I can't forget it.

I am having a moment now myself. The fact that it was about race in any way illuminates issues with race from another perspective for me. I don't recall ever thinking about race in that way before.

Some folks call it "courtesy".

I have been known to block traffic for other trucks and even cars. It IS illegal, of course, but I never heard of anyone getting more than an angry gesture for doing this.

If only more drivers would show a little courtesy, the roads would be a much safer and nicer place.

But be careful because while the path of the tractor is the black line, the back end of the trailer is more like the red line.

I wonder if this separates us from the generations that bracket us? We see race and we want it to work. We try to do the little things to smooth those interactions. The youngsters seem to think they're post racial. I'm pretty sure they're delusional but wish them well. The old-timers have sometimes evolved but they truly come from a different place. I had a nice long conversation with an older black man at a tournament last weekend. His Grandson was the only black competitor. We talked all around the Charleston situation and found ourselves occupying the same intellectual space regarding motivation and hopelessness in kids. It was like your moment in traffic, we both wanted our interaction to be a good thing and it was.

I see traffic as a team effort.

I've been known to pass 'that driver' and stop dead in the road in front of him, hold him up the same amount of time he held me up, and then go merrily about my way. Whistling. I hate that shit.

It was petty, but, he pissed me off.

I'm usually ok with the big rigs, they get a bum rap because of a few drivers' habits/practices.

I think I told my truck drivers are the coolest people ever story years ago how four or five semis blocked I95 entirely for me, long enough to get my unsecured load off the highway and onto the shoulder.

Totes awesome

Bruce is right. I have crushed cars that got into that no-go zone before.
Beware of-tracking. That is why trailers mostly have signs warning of wide turns.
Still. courtesy is a good thing, and rare enough to be remarked upon.

For a great driving experience, try New Hampshire sometime. I have never seen such courteous drivers anywhere else in the US.

Yeah, I am with Bruce here. I'd never try and turn on the inside of any big truck. General driving has taught me this, but working for a transport company and also in logistics has opened my eyes to it.

Maybe the driver was giving you the peace sign because you were lucky to be alive. Haha

In UT's diagram, the danger from a turning truck isn't as great because it's a left turn. The truck is making a wide turn to the outside lane. I've seen cars turning right, inside of a truck's wide right turn, and only narrowly miss getting crushed because the truck driver was so good, they were were watching out for such an idiotic move.

Nah, he was flashing the victory sign 'cause he got whitey to break the law. :p:

You're right a left is safer, depending on whether there's a medial barrier, in this case I know the area and it's cool.

But in my rush to warn people not to crowd trucks I kind of ran a tangent from UT's point, which I believe was human and racial interaction that went well. One of those moments that spectators might not even notice, but give you a warm and fuzzy feeling, or haunt you forever.