One day recently, I was driving in Atlanta traffic when suddenly it came to a stop. Everywhere I looked, traffic was at a stand-still. It just so happened that I was sitting on an overpass above the interstate, so I had a birds-eye view of what was happening. I noticed that one side of Interstate 285 was being closed down. From where I sat, I could see that it was because of a funeral procession for a police officer. The first part of the procession included several hundred motorcycle policemen. They were followed by a long line of police cars. After that were several fire trucks, ambulances and other medical vehicles. Finally, five helicopters flew overhead. With such a large procession, it completely shut down Interstate 285 for a long time. It was one of the most powerful things I had ever seen!
The last time I remember actually seeing that much authority and power in one place, was several years ago when I was in traffic and the Vice President of the United States came to town. It really was amazing to watch the respect that was shown to the fallen police officer. He had been killed in the line of duty. Everyone who was able to observe what was taking place was very respectful. People stopped, got out of their cars, took off their hats, stood at attention, and paid their respects. It was a very moving moment.
Again, because I was stopped on an overpass, I had a front-row seat to everything that was taking place around me, and I noticed that something else was happening. From my vantage point, I noticed that there were some drivers who were full of rage and anger because someone slowed down their progress. They were unaware of the reason for the delay, so they were angry. Someone actually had the audacity to get their spot on a piece of the pavement right in the middle of a funeral! I thought to myself, “If they only knew what was taking place, they would not react that way.” Had they known that the traffic jam was because of a funeral for a fallen police office, they would have certainly changed their attitude. And, that is when it dawned on me that they were not responding to the situation, they were reacting to it. Read the rest of this entry »
