Might not be your first rodeo, but you can still get bucked...

Got to tell a good one on myself.

The other night Mom and I were headed down I-640 from East Towne Mall (I don't have it in me to call it Knoxville Center) to Oak Ridge. Mom figured the quickest way to get there was to cut up Clinton Highway. I concurred.

I was driving in the far right lane.

"You need to make a right turn, but I'm not sure about this lane," Mom says, trying to be helpful.

"Just watch," I replied with confidence.

Sure enough, it brought us right to the off ramp.

Feeling smug, I grinned like a goober and said, "This ain't my first rodeo."

About that time I realized I was merging into oncoming traffic without slowing down.

"Oh, crap," I said. (That wasn't the word I used.) I glanced in the rear view, saw I wasn't going to slam into anybody and eased into the lane.

Without missing a beat, Mom says, "I think this was your first rodeo."

It wasn't, but that didn't mean I couldn't get bucked. Just goes to show what happens when you get all puffed up.