The Slow Driver and an Orange Cone

I was on my way to work today in the rain going 280 North at about 60 or so miles per hour. I got into the right exit lane for Hwy 85 when I got stuck being a guy going 45 miles per hour. Okay, I can see going 55, it’s raining, but not 45. I tried to get over left but saw a car was passing me. If they stayed on 280 I could get in the left exit lane and pass this guy. Sure enough they stayed on 280, so I turn on my blinker now and start to get over when I see he turned on his left turn blinker and started moving over. I’m like, okay, if he’s going to cut across an extra lane and get back on 280, I better let him do that. So as he’s moving over I’m getting closer to him as I’m getting ready to pass him. Half way through his lane change, I see an orange cone in the middle of the lane in front of me. I was too close to this guy now that I couldn’t swerve to miss the cone that was literally in the middle of the lane, I didn’t want to lose control right? It was one of the smaller orange cones, so I figured my car could clear it. I heard a thud when I ran over it and thought it must have hit the undercarriage of my car. Well, now I’m like crap, I’ve just hit the cone I might as well pass this guy, so I speed up. As I’m passing him, I heard this thud, scrape, thud sounds from under my car and realize the cone is stuck under my car. Great! Now, not only did I hit the cone, but after I pass this guy I’m going to have to be humbled and pull over to the side of the road in the rain just to pull this stupid cone out from under my car right? So I swerve a little and catch a few larger puddles and I heard a few more thuds and finally see the cone in my rear view mirror, thank goodness I wasn’t going to have to pull over, though now I’m fearing damage to my car I can only imagine. That’s what I get for being frustrated and trying to get around this guy.

It seemed funny to me later in the day when I realized that I had picked up and dragged the very cone this guy tried to avoid, passed him, and then dropped it off in the lane again… this means he probably hit the very cone he was trying to avoid in the first place.