i know i promised to stay in one lane but ...

la salle guy -- incidentally he has a name, jay -- is absolutely fearful of the way i drive. he's under the mistaken impression that one day i will kill a whole lot of people -- if i don't kill myself first -- with the way i weave from one lane to the other while driving. he has called me countless of names. so while i am absolutely positive that he loves me, i am also sure that this is one thing about me that he hates.

being the amazing driver he is, he's taken up the challenge to help me become a better driver. lesson one, according to him, is to learn how to stick to one lane and be patient. a good driver is never impatient, so unless i master that trick, i'll never be a good driver.

so for the last couple of days i've been trying to stick to one lane. it's quite easy sometimes especially since traffic has progressively gone from bad to worse. i stick to one lane and concentrate on learning the words to the different songs on my favorite cd.

but last night, *sigh* the traffic gods set a huge temptation before me. after honking goodbye to jay who turned at bohol avenue, i went down timog and saw, after i made the right turn to edsa a wide expanse of beautiful, almost car free, road.

seatbelt, check.
side mirrors properly positioned, check.
rear view mirror properly positioned, check.
seat comfortably positioned, check.
brakes, check.
jay (who called right after he saw me go straight down timog instead of turning at bohol and said goodbye already and reminded me to be careful going home and to text him the moment i've parked the car inside the garage) nowhere in sight, check check check.

so off i went. edsa, at its widest, is around four lanes (not including the yellow lanes). there were cars here and there but i happily weaved from one lane to the other, braking only when necessary. spike isn't the fastest thing on the planet with his 1.3 engine, what more if he's loaded with boxes of shoes, readings, and clothes i'm taking home for the sembreak, but i milked him for all he's worth. edsa, at 120 kph, is the closest thing to perfect bliss.

then my phone rang.

j: one lane lang pala, ha.
r: *gulp* oo. teka, nasaan ka?
j: kala ko ba mabait ka na magmaneho
r: *double gulp* maluwag edsa, eh. sayang naman. nasaan ka.
j: basta. in-overtakean mo lang naman ako sa cubao.

so for a minute or so, it was him chiding me for my lane switching and me trying to make excuses. it was also the minute or so that i was stuck behind a painfully slow truck but couldn't switch lanes, well, because i'd promised him i wouldn't switch lanes.

after a while he honked, passed by my right side, and went up ortigas flyover and i went my merry way down edsa again. i checked all mirrors, making sure he wouldn't pop up behind me again, and assured that he's not going to surprise me a second time, happily went back to lane switching all the way home.