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Grumpy Old Blogger embarrassed by lack of empathy in traffic jam

North London today is a mess. I've had to play taxi driver twice because of the state of the traffic, and part of the problem is a hole in the road just North of here, with traffic lights blocking the road most of the time. "How bloody thoughtless," I thought. And then I found that the other part of the problem was that some poor kid was "thoughtless" enough to get himself stabbed to death.

I can remember a similar feeling a few months back when - desperate to reach an airport in time - I called down imprecations on whoever had blocked the M1 Motorway, only to discover that it was someone who'd driven a car into a truck because their life was unbearable.

I felt like a shit. I feel rather similar today. OK, it has been pretty awful for everybody, and you don't stop and think when you're stuck in traffic, but when you find out what happened, it does rather make you glad you don't have any serious problems beyond hay fever.

With the police conducting a finger-tip search of several streets around where he died, getting from A to B is a nightmare, and with a family member injured and unable to walk far, I've had to drive miles around the blockade. I'm being philosophical about it now, but it took some time before I got things into perspective. Humbling.

So, if you rang at any point and didn't get through, my apologies. I was ranting and muttering about inconsiderate people, and am now feeling really crap about it all...