In the wrong lane!

A few years ago when the swine flu epidemic had made everyone suspicious of those arriving from Mexico to the extent that some had even got quarantined on returning to their home countries, we almost got ourselves into an utterly stupid situation. And all because we missed taking the right lane!

During our trip to San Diego, we wanted to drive southwards and see the international US border with Mexico. None of us had ever seen an international border and therefore we were quite keen on checking it out. So on one weekend when Interstate 5 was busy with people driving to Mexico, we decided to venture as close to the border as we could. Just before crossing the border, the I-5 provides an exit on the left-hand side that one can take if one wants to take a U turn and return back to US. And guess what, we missed taking that lane and ended up in a lane that was entering Mexico through the border check and passport control booths. As soon as we got onto the wrong lane, we realized what had happened. Cars had started lining up behind us and we were in the long queue on the way to Mexico. The thought of getting Mexico stamped on our passports and the implications of having to go through health check-ups upon returning dawned on us. We decided to reverse the car and get back into the lane taking us back into US. When we saw that the cops were not too happy with what we were trying to do, we tried to explain and asked them to let us reverse. “Do it at your own risk” we were told. Alright, that is good enough for us as long as you do not give us a ticket, we thought. And then with some maneuvering and some ‘desi-style’ driving, we got back into the lane which took us back into the US. Qué alivio! 

Lesson learnt:  Try to stay in the right lane, even when it is on the left.