Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

I was in the presence of right speech yesterday afternoon.  It felt like a blessing.  Ramon, the DMV driving test person in El Cerrito, did all the right things.  He joked with me first thing, so that we were both laughing for a full minute.  He had me do the hand signals and told a story about another driver who got it all mixed up.  He smiled a lot, assuring me he would not trick me and that we were going to have fun.  And damned if we didn't.  I have macular degeneration, and my left eye can't pass the driving test, so every two years now I need an update from my eye doctor and a 45 minute driving test on hill and dale and freeway.  This is good.  It protects other drivers.  But this is stressful, worse than five crowns at the same time in the dentist's office.  I had not slept well the night before.  For weeks before I was worrying about what it would mean if I could no longer drive.  It was not a pretty picture, despite trying to reassure myself I'd adapt, and it was not like a major health issue.

Ramon said he was on my side.  When I stopped at one stop sign and we were talking then I edged out and a car came barreling down the hill he said he distracted me.  How gentlemanly of him.  He kept reassuring me I was doing "fine".  He talked about how he handled it when two cars going the same direction were stopped at a pedestrian crosswalk and he couldn't see left because the car beside him was a big SUV.  He honked, rolled down the window and asked if the crosswalk was clear.  He told me this story as I was stopped and couldn't see past the SUV beside me.  I admitted I was shy honking the horn, and I would just wait to see what the other driver did.  He manuevered a U turn and I was free to continue. 

Everything Ramon said supported me.  He was the heart of compassion.  He didn't skimp on the test, we had had to check off every single thing, but he was fair and encouraging.  That is right speech.  He eased my nervousness, saw me as a person, laughed with me as equals, and was almost as happy as I was that I passed.  What a guy!