Bonding the free-way

It started off as one of those perfect winter’s days in Africa. Following the early morning chill, it was warming up under a glorious blue sky. I picked up my ride to the airport. The traffic was unusually light for rush hour. I was travelling to the Buddhist Retreat Centre in the mountainous area of KZN (Kwazulu-Natal) in South Africa, to facilitate one of my bi-annual weekend programs (Retreats). After tucking into a hearty breakfast in the airport lounge, I walked to the gate with a spring in my step and boarded the on-time plane. A perfect sequence of events was unfurling, paralleled by a mind state at peace with the world and anticipating a great weekend.

We came in to land ahead of schedule. To my left I beheld the spectacular Indian Ocean with its beaches and resorts. Disembarked and went straight to the luggage carousel. And would you know it, my bag was in the first lot. A very unusual occurrence for me since my bags are invariable near the last to arrive. Off to the car rental and in next to no time I’m packed into the vehicle and on the freeway. Well, I thought this was turning out to be a near perfect weekend with all its positive omens. But the universe had some other plans in store for me. Just when I thought I was well ahead of schedule, the fast moving traffic began to choke up and slow down. There was a lot of traffic on this major coastal freeway. And then suddenly the slowing ..... stopped dead!. And then nothing. Trucks, cars and all nature of vehicle were stationary. In an instant I saw up ahead something that looked like a puff of smoke or dust on the freeway. Ominously there was also no traffic coming towards us from the opposite direction.

After fifteen minutes, we the motorists had all switched off our engines and started to get out of our vehicles. We sought information. No one had any idea as to what was happening up ahead. And then suddenly the appearance of a police chopper up above, circling the area. There was nothing yet on the news broadcasts. The freeway had become this enormous car-park and we the drivers were all milling around and chatting. A diverse collection of humanity in all different walks of life, connected by a common unprecedented occurrence, were all interacting on this newly converted freeway meeting place! There was no anxiety nor frustration. It was as though our common lot and connectivity had become our solace. This prevailed for more than an hour. It was only then that information began to trickle in as to what had occurred up ahead.

The cops had been tipped off that a gang was about to carry out a heist on a cash-in-transit vehicle. They had identified the vehicle carrying the gang, resulting in a hot pursuit with the subsequent exchange of gun-fire with automatic weapons. The gang attempted to force the cop car off the freeway, but the retaliatory maneuver caused the gang’s car to roll over the central barrier into oncoming traffic. A head-on collision occurred with more than ten cars on our side, involved. The cops had shot and killed two of the gang members and arrested a third. Two cops were injured as were several motorists, one of whom had to be cut out of her vehicle with the ’jaws of life’.

Two of the remaining gang members had escaped into the bushes on the side of the freeway and were being pursued by the new arrival of a crack SWAT team, co-ordinated from the air by the chopper. Another gun fight erupted in the bushes resulting in the killing of the remaining gang members.

After a period of one and a half hours, the traffic authorities managed to create an ‘escape’ lane to the previous turn-off. The freeway was to remain closed while the forensic teams and others were on site, probably for the duration of the day. And so one after another we each executed a three-point turn with each driver creating space for the next. The camaraderie that had emerged from our shared experience prevailed right into the choked alternative routes that we were forced to use.

For me this was a greatly inspirational experience. An unanticipated event over which we had no control and by which many were significantly inconvenienced, had somehow brought out the best in those who had shared the experience. But it could easily have gone the other way. Frustration morphing into anger could easily have occurred, both in me and in others. And who knows what could have happened if collective anger had erupted? But somehow reason prevailed, the anxiety of the amygdala was held at bay and if anything, the connectivity in a shared experience probably resulted in an oxytocin state. We had bonded on the N2 freeway! And even though my journey was extended from two to six hours with the real possibility of arriving late for my opening presentation, I was still accepting of, and at peace with the consequences of an event over which I had had no control. The oxytocin afterglow prevailed. I arrived just in time and unruffled and was able to deliver the presentation.

What really intrigued me was that my experience was illustrative of the very subject that I was to present at the Retreat – maintaining or re-claiming a resourceful mind state in the face of adversity. The mind states and behavior of all those involved reflected the aspired state as outlined in my program. I concluded that the program was indeed validated by the real life event together with the mind states that had emerged and that consequently it had been sufficiently authenticated as an effective application. It was inevitable therefore that the event was included in the Retreat as an illustrative example.

It’s been a successful Retreat, uneventful after my arrival. At this time I’m sitting at the airport awaiting my return flight. I had a bit of time on my hands and thought this to be an appropriate narrative to share with you folk on beBee. So here it is. Have a great week!

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