Punishment Light

A while back Netflix began to stream through Wii. Since I wasn't using the Wii for exercise, as was planned, I signed up for 1 disk at a time, plus free streaming.

Weeds, seasons 1-4 were available. I had heard it was very funny and watched a few seasons, until it got a bit crazy, as all sitcoms eventually do.

There was an episode where the main character sits at an intersection she calls the Punishment Light. She is extremely stressed out by life and this damn light is always red, even when there is no traffic. She has a minor break-down while she waits for the light to change.

I live near one of those intersections. There are stop signs, then two sets of lights, a turn and another set of lights and then the great Minnesota invention - the "entering the freeway" lights. When I worked, I needed to take this route every morning. I remember timing it, and the longest was 10 minutes before actually getting on the highway. Now I am talking about a 1 mile ride here. One mile in 10 minutes.

When I was under stress, I would run red lights, swear, beat on the steering wheel, etc. I don't like waiting or being late.

Today I hit the same long wait, and I was a little behind for a school visit. But I noticed that without the stress of working full-time and caring for Dennis full time, I was able to take the 10 minutes of punishment much easier. I only thought about swearing. I stopped at red lights. I didn't take it out on my car. I took it with so much more grace.

Now, if I could only figure out why I deserve being punished by that light.