And there it is. The red turtle car. Credit: ozkan ulucam/Shutterstock
Last week, I left you going around in circles – quite literally – trying to understand Spanish roundabouts.
But just when I thought I had figured them out, another driving adventure was waiting: a toll booth, a missing credit card and one very slow red turtle car.
You might have thought that was the end of my driving adventures.
You would be wrong.
Take toll roads. You’re driving happily when suddenly you encounter one. Thirty kilometres an hour. Maybe forty if the driver is feeling adventurous. You know you are late. Finally, you overtake. You pass the turtle and watch as the red turtle-on-wheels car disappears into the distance.
You smile. “Finally! I can get there on time.”
Ah, yes. The toll booth – where the relaxing Costa del Sol drive suddenly becomes a frantic episode of:
Where’s the card?
You reach for your credit card. Where is it? You know you had it two minutes ago. Not there. Maybe the other pocket. Meanwhile, the machine raises an eyebrow and silently judges you as an impatient queue builds behind you.
“Please insert card.”
Yes, I know. I’m trying.
You find the card, insert it – and somehow drop it. Of course. Now you’re leaning halfway out of the window, trying to retrieve a tiny piece of plastic without rolling into the barrier. My career as a contortionist has officially begun.
You pick it up. Try again. Nothing. Now you’re sweating. You can almost hear them: “Come on, buddy. This isn’t your first toll booth.”
Finally, the machine accepts the card.
Victory!
The barrier rises and you pull away like someone who has just completed an Olympic event. You merge onto the motorway and look in the rear-view mirror.
And there it is. The red turtle car. The same red car you overtook ten minutes ago.
Somehow, he has paid his toll, passed through the booth and caught up with you while you were conducting a full financial transaction, gymnastics routine and minor emotional breakdown.
What exactly did you accomplish by overtaking him?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Sound familiar? Isn’t that life sometimes? We rush, hurry and overtake, convinced we’re getting somewhere faster – only to discover a few minutes later, we’re alongside the person we were trying to overtake.
You spent petrol, raised your blood pressure, risked your dignity at the toll booth – and now you’re travelling together again.
And around and around we go – the great roundabout of life, where we race ahead, overtake, get stuck, take the wrong exit and somehow end up behind the same red turtle car.
Perhaps that’s the lesson.
Life isn’t a race. It’s a roundabout.
And frankly, I’m beginning to suspect the turtle knows the way better than I do.
And frankly, I’m loving it.
See you there!
