I have a confession to make. Sometimes I don’t use the best judgment. Sometimes I know what the right thing to do is, and yet I do something else. I know. You thought I was better than that (or at least you thought I’d want you to think I was better than that). But no, I can be stubborn when flexibility is called for, and impatient almost any time.

One thing I don’t do is drink and drive, but there are times when I drive while impaired in other ways. Just today, for example, I probably shouldn’t have been behind the wheel, because I was so tired I wasn’t in control of my emotions. I had a barely controllable urge to drive down the street at about 90 mph (the posted speed limit was 40). I cussed out just about every other driver on the road, but to be honest, many of them deserved it. Even though I didn’t have an Incident, I was glad to make it home.

While all this was going on I wasn’t so unaware of the situation that I gave in to any destructive urges. In fact, that’s what separates me from the true road ragers. Even when I feel out of control, I can talk myself into following the rules and realizing what I’m doing. All I have to do is remind myself that the entire fabric of civilization is held together by the social contract we make with each other when we get behind the wheel. There’s nowhere the Golden Rule applies more fittingly than when we’re sharing the road.

It’s actually a little more difficult to keep myself in line at home, where there’s nobody to (a) witness what I’m doing, or (2) be affected by my actions. That’s why (back in the day, not lately, of course) you might have to pick up after me as I threw things around, or patch holes in my walls, or sit in a chair that’s a little wobbly because I’ve slammed it against the table one too many times. I’m happy to say that I’ve learned from past mistakes and mellowed out a bit. After you run out of chairs, it gets easier to stop yourself from wrecking them. It’s amazing what a little perspective can do.