Funny Dad Story

The other day when my father was waiting at an intersection somewhere in San Jose, a car coming the other way blew through the red light several seconds after his light had already turned green. Red light runners are probably my dad's biggest pet peeve when it comes to driving, and every time I make that snap second decision to stop instead of speeding up, I always think of him. (I also think of my college roommate's sister who was hit by a red light runner as she was crossing the street as a child. ) And most of the time I do stop, because I've heard enough of my dad's ranting about the dangers of red light running to be pretty conscientious about it.

So this woman goes through the light about 7 seconds after it has turned red, sending my dad into a tizzy of frustration. He goes on his way, and at the next block, finds himself right behind the guilty driver. On the back of a car is a Mary Kay sticker . . . with the woman's cell phone number. So what does my dad do? Like any concerned citizen, he picks up his phone and gives her a call. And when she picks up the phone, he chews her out right then and there, saying something along the lines of, "Do you have any idea how badly you just ran that red light? What makes you so important that you have to put others in danger just so that you can save a few minutes? And look how far ahead it got you! Nowhere! You are still waiting at the next light!" And on and on and on.

The woman's response: "I know, and I feel absolutely AWFUL about it!" She goes on to explain that she is usually a very good driver and she never runs red lights, but she just had one of those moments where she made a mistake. This of course calms my dad down and they continue to have a pleasant conversation about the dangers of red light running and how much of a problem it has become, and she tells him how impressed she was that he had the guts to call her and reprimand her.

And they end the conversation with, " You drive safely now!"

I love my dad :-)

Moral of the story: Don't run red lights, especially if you have your cell phone number displayed on your car.