There’s a stop sign in our lazy neighborhood that must have a tiny asterisk on it.

To be fair, it really is a totally worthless stop sign that seems so random and almost punitive on this street that hardly anyone ever intersects with another car, but it’s there nonetheless. I’ve lived on this street for close to five years now, and I’ve probably encountered another car at this random intersection maybe 20 times tops? But I still always stop when I come up to the sign — because it’s a STOP SIGN!!!

But Lou doesn’t stop. 

I wish it didn’t bother me so much, but yesterday, Lou and I had a very stressful day, and we spent a big chunk of the day in the car dealing with the California traffic that gets pretty gnarly at times between the Wine Country and the East Bay. My nerves are never steady in the car — I’m a horrible passenger — and most of the time, I pray my heart out to just relax. But relaxing in the car is not something I do very well…

Anyway. 

When we finally reached our sweet town of Sonoma, and Lou was turning into our quiet little neighborhood, I knew he wouldn’t stop at the useless stop sign, but I still felt myself go rigid and anxious inside as we approached it. And as I knew he would, Lou coasted through the odd fork-like intersection without stopping, and that’s when I snapped at him. 

I know by now that my voice on the matter of the useless stop sign has no juice with Lou, and, I’m sure I sound like a crazy bitch who is fighting a battle I will never win. And I already know Lou’s argument for not stopping — “It’s a pointless stop sign,” to which my normal response is, “But it IS A STOP SIGN and what kind of world do we live in when people don’t obey the traffic signs? It’s just basic good citizen behavior!!!”

But what’s the point? Lou is not going to see it that way, and I’m not going to see it his way. It’s a stalemate that will never end. So to organize that reality in my mind, I’ve decided there must be a tiny asterisk on that particular stop sign somewhere indicating a footnote that says: *Except for Lou.

That’s the only way I can sort this situation because it honestly upsets me so much whenever Lou blows by that sign! That, and, I also always stop at that stop sign for a full five-seconds when I’m driving the truck…

Just in case Lou really isn’t the exception to that rule.

I’m hoping a thorough make-up stop will count.

#marriage