Car Karma

Driving back from the supermarket, a driver about three cars up ahead of me stopped to allow another driver trying to enter the road from the right a chance to merge into traffic.

That was polite of him and courteous to that other driver.  The problem was, the car merging into traffic and the driver who paused to let him in were both able to pass the traffic light before it turned red.  The car in front of me and I couldn't.  We had to wait a whole other traffic-light cycle that we otherwise would have missed in order to get through the intersection.

By being courteous and helpful to the merging car, the driver up ahead of me was discourteous and unhelpful to the cars behind him.

So did he do the right thing?  If he lets the car merge, he's rude to those behind him.  If he keeps driving and doesn't let the other car merge, he's being rude to that driver.

It's a lose-lose situation.

But the driver probably felt good about himself. He was kind and courteous to the merging car up ahead of him that he could see, and wasn't aware of the inconvenience he was causing to the cars behind him.  

It's like that a lot for us in life - we only see the actions and consequences that are right there in front of us, and it's so easy to miss the bigger picture.