I worked at a small and remote divivsion of a fortune 500. As a computer programmer nobody really knew what I did but they knew they need me (or a programmer). Nobody cared if I was late.

On this day, I was technically late for work. The office opened at 8AM. Nobody cared what time I arrived as long as I did a good job. I was on schedule to get there around 8:30. 

At the city-center exit there is a disaster of a merge. 8 lanes merge to 3 at the same time there are 2 dedicated exit lanes. Day after day, drivers stay in an exit lane until the last moment, cut over, cut people off, slam on their breaks to try and gain a few car lengths. Wherever you live, you know.

I was in the appropriate lane for my exit. There was only about 20 feet between me and the car ahead. Tailgaiting? No, we were on the freeway but only going about 5 mph. I knew somebody would try to come over at the last second and sure enough, they waited until after the merge, cutting accross the median and veered in front of me.

They barely fit, then slammed on their breaks to avoid hitting the car in front. I was livid. 

I don't road-rage to people. I do scream like an ass and pound my steering wheel. My rage filling the constraint of my vehicle.

They took the same exit as me, then took the same right turn as me. Weirdly they took the same left turn too. At the next major intersection they stayed straight, against the majority. It was like they were following me from the lead. Then they took the same little side road as me, a dead end. Were they taunting me?

At this point it has been three minutes or so, but I am still upset. I keep thinking- "leave three minutes early and don't drive like an ass!"

The jackass continues down the dead end until they hit my workplace and pull into the parking lot. Whoa, this is [Jill]! She is so nice but she drives like such a selfish bitch.

I wander into my desk and go about my job. A solo programmer in this building. Coding away by myself.

Around 10, another coworker comes into my areas and asks if I heard about Jill. She tells me Jill's daughter, only 25 years old was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Her daughter just had a baby, Jill's first and only grandchild. The next step for her daughter is to make videos for her child because the doctors don't give her long.

All work stops while I digest. What an ignorant, petty, fuck I am. Jill got the news last night that her daughter is going to die. Jill was probably at the hospital until 4am staring at her child while she has the chance. Jill probably didn't get home until the sun was coming up. She probably tried to get a single hour of sleep but fail. Barely falling asleep as her alarm beeped.

I, petty, self centered I, raged over a minor inconvienice.