I Was Right

The Gardener is a wise man. He is known for his wisdom. He also is very smart. Much smarter than me. But there is one little thing--one small traffic law that I think he is wrong about. We have little "discussions" about it when he is driving. I insist I am right, and am so perplexed that he thinks he is right. Didn't we grow up in the same part of the country? Driving laws are pretty standard.

So such a (what I call) deviation occurred on the way to vote the other morning. Lo and behold there was a police car parked at the polls. "Why don't we just ask him who is
 right?" I suggested. The Gardener was willing.

But when we went into the polling area, it was silent, everybody busy doing his or her job. The police officer was just sitting passing the time (since when do we need a policeman at the polls?) So I didn't feel like broadcasting to the entire room our altercation.

As we left, another (unmarked) car parked near us and another young officer got out. The Gardener (to my surprise) walked over to him and said, "Officer, I wonder if you would have time to solve a domestic dispute." (Was he that confident that he was right?  Later he told me he was just humoring me.) The young officer looked somewhat taken aback but agreed to help if he could. The Gardener proceded to explain it all.

Turns out I was right. (Yipee!) But to give full disclosure, the officer did say one probably wouldn't be cited for such a small thing. Then the Gardener continued with the young officer, "Now can you give me any advice about how to live with a woman who's 'always right?'"

The officer smiled (though he remained on the serious side) and replied, "Ha, I wish I knew. I've got one of those myself."

It was all in good spirit, adds a new story to our history, and I admit that it was fun to proclaim "I was right." But enough is enough. It's all the better if we can humbly say "I was wrong" a little more often.

Photos: 1. The old (even then) rambler my childhood best friend learned to drive on.
 2. A rare glimpse of the Gardener sans beard; resting during a 60 mile bike hike, yeah, years ago. No traffic violations either. That's me at his side.