Observations Of A Commuter

I've written before about my commute to and from work. I've talked about a favorite part on the way home, and I've bitched about the idiots who are out there breaking laws and putting my safety in danger.

This time I'm going to share three random unrelated observations that are probably meaningless to anyone reading. They all meant a little something to me.

Observation #1 - On the way to work I was taking my usual route (which I will not divulge because my wife Laura is convinced someone will read this and follow me). As I was driving in a residential area, but on a busy thoroughfare, I noticed a squirrel carefully making its way across the street - while walking on a cable suspended over the street. I swear it almost lost it's footing three or four times. I certainly didn't want to see it fall, and it didn't. But it actually slowed the cars in front of me. They must have seen it too.

Now I've seen several squirrels doing the exact same thing - going from telephone pole to telephone pole - in the backyards of the homes in my neighborhood. But I've never seen one cross directly over a busy street in the height of rush hour.

Observation #2 - On the way home from work - well actually on the way to my mom's house after work - I was on the freeway in traffic that was moving along at a slow pace, but moving just the same. In my rear-view mirror a long way back, I saw several police cars approaching with their lights on. I immediately thought Car Chase! What I couldn't see was whether or not there was a fleet of news and police helicopters following from sky. (There wasn't). Little by little the cars got closer and closer. On the one hand I wanted to have a front row seat for the ending of such a chase, but on the other hand I didn't want to be trapped in with no way to exit the freeway.

I was both relieved and disappointed when the cars finally reached my location on the crowded freeway only to see a police escort. Actually about 6 Sheriff cars escorting one unmarked Suburban with it's windows blacked out. It was probably some big-shot being escorted down to one of the County buildings in Norwalk. NBD.

Observation #3 - On the way to work as I was driving in a mostly commercial area, I was stopped at a red light at a very busy intersection. I noticed two people, a man and a woman, walking down the street who looked very much out of place, and very much like tourists. Now this particular part of town is heavy commercial and light industrial, with pockets of residential. There are no tourist attractions anywhere around. So they're walking down the street, and stop to talk to a man who is sitting in front of a small business. The man points in the direction that the people are walking, and they talk and they point and they talk and they point. Then they walk off, but before they do it's clear that the two thank the man. He acknowledges their words of gratitude. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside and think to myself: there are still a few good people in the world willing to help a stranger.