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+---
+title: The Volkswagen that Couldn't
+---
+
+1978
+
+Shortly after my wife and I were married, we decided to drive to Canada
+to visit her parents. We were still starving students and had to make
+the trip in my wife's orange Volkswagen Beetle. The route required us to
+cross through a few mountain ranges somewhere in Montana. On this
+occasion, my wife was driving. We were following a big freight truck as
+we began to climb up a steep mountain. The truck began to slow down as
+the hill became steeper. This stretch of highway had only two lanes.
+Thus, the only way to get by the big truck was to pass him on the left.
+
+There was another car behind us. We both grew impatient to get around
+the slow moving truck, but the on-coming traffic was too heavy. The
+minutes of waiting for an opportunity to pass the truck became
+agonizing. The tension and the stress were building. Finally, a gap in
+the on-coming traffic presented our best chance to pass the truck. Lori
+pulled the beetle into the left lane and put the pedal to the metal. To
+our great dismay, the Volkswagen did not surge forward with a burst of
+speed as hoped. One quarter mile ahead, another vehicle was speeding
+toward us in the left lane. Our poor little Volkswagen was not making
+much progress getting around that truck. The situation was getting very
+tense.
+
+Meanwhile, the car that had been behind us pulled up nearer to the
+truck, making it impossible for us to move back into the right lane to
+avoid a head-on collision. Now, we were both truly frightened. The
+Volkswagen was not going to get around the truck in time. Lori took the
+only option left. She braked hard to allow the truck and the car behind
+it to move ahead. We slipped back into the right lane and out of harm's
+way just as the on-coming car flew by with its horn blowing.
+
+I will never forget the expression on the face of the driver of the car
+that had been behind us. As we were braking to get back into the right
+lane, I could clearly see a look of amusement as he sped ahead on the
+right. I will never know if his actions that day were deliberate, but in
+my heightened state of distress, I assumed he had intentionally placed
+our lives in danger just so he could have a good chuckle.
+
+For the next 20 or 30 minutes, I was silently fuming. I entertained all
+manner of grisly methods of exacting revenge on this pathetic excuse for
+a human being. My fantasies involved the use of weapons such as sledge
+hammers, machetes and double barreled shotguns. I was so consumed by my
+anger and indignation that I could not rationally analyze what was
+happening to me. At length, I finally realized that I was only
+prolonging my mental anguish by feeding my rage with thoughts of
+revenge. Finally, after a long time, I was able to listen to the still,
+small voice inside me. That voice told me that the only way to become
+triumphant in this situation was to adopt a spirit of forgiveness. Then,
+and only then, was my personal peace restored.
+
+In retrospect, that driver did me a great favor that day. He helped me
+learn a valuable lesson early in life that has served me well ever
+since.