Temptation. That would be what I experienced just after one of my fellow road users obligingly pulled in right in front of me, into the space that wasn’t actually there.
As I slammed on the brakes I did not see my life flash before my eyes, nor did I experience road rage. I did however feel a little surge of relief that we were crawling along at a very low speed at the time, so no real chance of dents, dings or collisions. Just a bit of minor annoyance.
But then for a moment I was lost for words, as I realised that the lovely man who had cut me up so efficiently had a huge advert stuck in his rear windscreen. ‘Car for Sale’ – with his mobile phone number displayed in absolutely enormous letters. Oh yes.
Contemplating ringing him up provided me with a few gleeful moments, ‘This is what temptation feels like’, I thought to myself.
Of course it ended in disappointment. It was inevitable really, that moment when I realised that I’m too sensible/adult/boring to make that call.
Self knowledge does seem to lead to a feeling of vague disappointment. At least it does in my case. Oh well.