The sign reads “do not pass snowplows on the right.” As I read that a lot of thoughts went through my head and they were not limited to; “What a stupid sign,” “Who would ever do that,” I could picture some idiot being pummeled by the snow as they attempted it, but for there to be a sign, somebody must have,  more than a few people must have actually tried and of course failed. I saw in my mind several cars and snowplows driving through a snowstorm going over this Oregon mountain (we had just passed Deadman’s Pass, and yes I did slow down after seeing that sign), and I saw what it must have looked like to the Snowplow driver- almost white out conditions all around and 2-5 inches of snow piled up on the road in front of him, he is going about 30-40 MPH through the long and winding road clearing the snow away from the left lane in hopes that the road will be safer for the other cars after he does his job, all the snow gets pushed off into the right lane either for a snowplow in the right lane behind him, or for him to clear the next time he comes down that road. Then all of a sudden he sees in his right rear view mirror some very impatient driver in a small car attempting to pass him on the right. The snowplow driver has no choice but to drive on and as the car attempts to pass he gets pummeled by the heavy snow being plowed from the left lane, the car gets pushed off the road and death or serious injury is the probable result. Traffic is held up for hours and rescue crews come and the media reports on the accident and the next thing you know, there is a meeting to discuss how to make the roads safer and a committee gets together and decides that they need to make  3 permanent signs for this dangerous road that read “DO NOT PASS SNOWPLOWS ON THE RIGHT”- I think that they could just make a sign that says- “Don’t be stupid”, but that really isn’t specific enough.

I actually learned some lessons from this sign. It was a long drive and I had more than a few hours to reflect on the ridiculousness of the sign, but how in life sometimes we need signs like that, signs that aren’t for all of us, but signs for the few, yet how often we are the “few” that need them.

What can we learn from this sign? I think there are a few lessons we can learn from this

-          We shouldn’t try to pass or go around those that are in front of us clearing away the obstacles

-          It is better to wait and be safe than to hurry and put yourself in danger (i.e.  Speaking when angry, rushing through rush hour traffic,  etc.)

-          Not everybody “gets it” (what is obvious for some people is not obvious for others), and we sometimes need to be taught, told, and reminded of basic things

-          You don’t always have to understand the “why” to benefit from wise counsel

-          We shouldn’t dismiss simple rules because of their simplicity

In life there are obstacles that we encounter and some of them are on dangerous, steep, and slippery roads. Almost all of the time when we can’t get through them on our own there is help- whether it be a friend or family member or a teacher or a role model that clears away the obstacles or makes a way for us not to be pummeled by them. No matter what the obstacle (drugs, immorality, addictions, etc.) there are people, programs, prophets and angels plowing the way for us to not be absolutely pummeled by those forces.  So we shouldn’t try to pass or go around those that are in front of us clearing away the obstacles.

We often need reminders or counsel from parents, teachers, and/or mentors that point out the things that are obvious. The basics are what we are reminded of day in and day out. Not because they aren’t common sense, but because despite the obvious right decision we still mess up and need reminders.

I think that decisions that are slow and thought out are seldom wrong. I am a person that likes to rush into things and make decisions quickly and get going in some direction and then correct course on the way. Sometimes, decisions need to be made quickly and decisively, but most the time and especially on the big decisions we can wait a little longer and think through things before we commit to something, and the wise people in my life are people who make big decisions deliberately, and aren’t forced or persuaded to act more quickly before they feel comfortable with a decision. So I think it is better to wait and be safe than to hurry and put yourself in danger.

So many more thoughts, but so little time to figure out how to write them.

Any other principles we can learn from this sign?