Daily Mood Quote - June 29, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 56 – June 29, 2011

The car has become the carapace, the protective and aggressive shell, of urban and suburban man.

~Marshall McLuhan

“Automobiles are not ferocious...it is the man (woman too) who is to be feared.”

~Robbins B. Stoeckel

Yesterday, my husband and I were out running errands, minding our own business and enjoying the drive and conversation. I got to tell you, I love where I live because “material presents itself” (thank you Ray Romano in Everybody loves Raymond). Several years back, the phrase “road rage” was big, it played on nearly every programs, many talks show talked about how to deal with road rage and there were many news stories about people being arrested for acts of road rage. Today, we don't see as much of it on TV, nor do we read much about it in print. Maybe that just where I live, I don't know.

Road rage (at least the less dangerous kind) is one of those things that has always made my husband and I laugh. We could never really understand the need someone has to get to the red light first. Daily driving isn't a competition, but it seems many drive as if it is a race. While driving the speed limit yesterday in the slow lane too boot, there was a woman in a silver Cadillac Escalade (she look to be in her sixties) who pulled that aggressive driver routine on my husband, riding his bumper at first, trying to force him to go faster. He smiled looked at me and said quietly, “Get off my a**, I'm saving gas.” Then she attempted to pass him at a high rate of speed. She used the “intimidation” stare, as she slowed her car just enough to pull aside our car, muttering some unfriendly words (that's not nice or civil). Then when she realized that there was a red light ahead, which my husband had spied quite a bit earlier, she had to stop. As we pulled up to the light, we were directly abreast of the Silver Escalade. My husband and I were laughing, because as we were going the speed limit for the road 55 mph, we didn't need to stop, only slow a bit. When the light turned green the woman hit the gas, flipped us the finger (which is considered “road rage” and illegal, but nearly impossible to enforce in this state) and drove past us at a high rate of speed, cutting off several cars ahead of us. Really, the finger, from a woman in her sixties? I don't even want to speculate as to where that's been, yuck. Wow!

When I was kid, a relative once told me the elderly people, those who are older, are your role models. That relative has since passed away, but if that's the kind of role modeling going on, I think I'll pass. It's bad enough when we're driving in our cars, we see people in their cars doing strange things, picking their nose (looking for the winners, I assume), playing with their false teeth (that's just disgusting), talking on the phone, while working on a laptop, drinking coffee, with one finger on the wheel. Can anyone say high insurance rates? Yeah, I want to drive behind them. Then, there are the people who actually change their clothes in their cars while driving (not something I wanted to see, seriously saw too much). A little note for these carapace people...We can see you, EVERYONE can see you.

In the movie Driving Miss Daisy, Boolie Werthan (played by Dan Aykroyd) said to his mother Daisy Werthan (played by Jessica Tandy), “Mama, cars don't behave. They are behaved upon.” It is our actions behind the wheel that can turn a pleasurable experience into a nightmare, if we are not careful. There is no place ever that is so important to get too, that you should risk your life, or the lives of others to get there. The roads are big enough (mostly). Yes there's traffic but, I have found the best way to survive is to look around you when you are at red light. Look for the rocker who is bobbing his head to heavy metal music, look for the singer, who sings in their car, where no one can hear them. Thank goodness. Look for the nose picker and wonder if they will ever find a winner there. It's an amusement park on wheels, well at least a side show. I guarantee you, you'll end up at your destination with a smile on your face. “Drive carefully! Remember, it's not only a car that can be recalled by it's maker.” ~Anonymous

What fun will you find in driving today?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading.