This is why I hate driving

I drove down the Long Island Expressway the Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving when something pissed me off…

You’d usually be stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic traveling 50 mph during rush hour, but not on this day. Fewer cars were on the road because of the holiday, so everyone drove faster.

I’m no Fast & Furious driver, but when traffic moves fast, I’ll keep up.

As I sped down the left lane, I looked at my rearview mirror and saw a car coming in hot.

Natural instincts should have made me:

• Move to the center lane so the car can pass me
• Illegally cross into the HOV lane so the car could pass me
• Slow down so the car can go around and pass me

But I did something different…

I sped up.

When I looked at my speedometer, I realized my speed hit 80 mph.

Then, I glanced at my rearview mirror and noticed the car closing the distance between us.

It inched closer…

And closer…

Until it illegally merged into the HOV lane.

This is my one pet peeve about the LIE…

I hate when people cross over the solid white line. I don’t know why it bites my nerves, but it does.

So, whenever I see someone do that, I look around, praying a cop turns the corner and flashes their blue and red lights.

But you’ll never believe what happened next…

I looked to my left and laughed at the irony that drove past me—a cop car. Yes, a Suffolk County police officer—either in a hurry or taking a peaceful joy ride—had to be the person to do the one thing I hate.

Then something beautiful happened…

A silver car ahead of me illegally merged into the HOV lane directly in front of the cop.

Oh, sweet sweet justice, I thought.

Even after 5+ years of driving and seeing thousands of cars illegally merge into the HOV lane, I’ve never once witnessed the law serve someone justice.

And that was the moment.

I waited for those blue and red lights to flash their magic, but they never did.

The cop didn’t pull over the silver car.

It stabbed a dagger into my heart.

The silver car and cop car gained distance on me, and I spent the rest of my drive thinking about the spoiled milk that incident turned into...

Until I reached my exit ramp and, once more, saw something beautiful—blue and red lights dancing atop a cop car I knew well.

Oh, how beautiful it’ll be if the silver car is right there, I thought.

And my thought came true.

I saw the silver car pulled over on the side of the road, with the police officer talking to the driver at the window.

But that didn’t satisfy me.

Even though the cop brought the silver car to justice, I’ll never know why.

I can only assume that the driver illegally merged out of the HOV lane and that the cop decided to pull him over.

But I’ll never know for sure.

That's what pisses me off the most. I'll never know if the cop served justice for the reason I hope.

And even now, as I sit here writing to you, I wonder…

Why did the cop pull over that silver car? And why couldn’t I have been there to watch it?