Today I feel...

...smug.

I have one of those magnetic charts in my office with the different faces (exhausted, confused, ecstatic, guilty, etc) and the frame that reads "Today I feel..." I usually leave it on exhausted or overwhelmed, but today I moved it. Here's why:

I rarely take the freeway, but for some reason I found myself turning onto the 101 this morning and it was too late to stop. Traffic wasn't so bad, or at least no worse than usual. The tricky part, and my least favorite section of the freeway, is the exit from the 101 to the 110. (see photo for non-Angelinos).

What you can't really see in this photo is the automotive ballet that is performed every day in that red rectangular section of the 110. As cars are coming off the 101 freeway, they either merge across 4 lanes to the left to continue onto to the 110, or stay to the right and exit at 3rd, 4th, 6th, or Wilshire. AT THE SAME TIME, cars already on the 110 are merging across 4-6 lanes to get to the exits on the right. It's really a miracle that more accidents don't occur on these freeways since this is not the only section in which nerves are tested and sheer luck keeps cars from colliding.

So, I was merging left onto the 110 and was safely in my lane when a mini van decided it didn't want to take the 6th Street exit after all, and swung back onto the 110, crossing the median section and causing me to brake hard and swerve slightly (out of reflex) before realizing I couldn't get into the next lane as there was a Highway Patrol Car in that lane.

"Crap!," I thought, "Now I'm going to get pulled over for unsafe driving." The CHP officer pulled up and looked over at me. I gave him my best harried-woman- on-her-way-to-work look, and guess what? He pulled forward, merged in front of me and pulled over the a-hole who cut me off. That never happens. So, yes, today I feel smug. Take that, a-hole driver who cut me off this morning. I hope you think twice before making bad maneuvers on a busy freeway during morning rush hour.