Driving Zen
Mon, 28 Jan 2008.
So an update on the driving situation. As you know, I bought a car recently. I lived in Seattle for about 10 months without a car and I caught the bus and walked between bus stops and everything. Overall, it was pretty good not having a car.
After I got this car, I’ve been driving to and from work. One, because I want to destroy the environment (kidding! I love Al Gore! I think he’s like a really smart grandpa!) and two, because I was afraid I’d forgotten how to drive. Let me tell you that in those 10 months, I genuinely forgot how to drive. If you count the few times I drove my old Mazda when I was back in Australia, it’s only been about 2 months since I drove.
See, as a child, I thought driving was possibly the easiest thing ever. I mean, they taught us all about traffic lights. Yellow was kind of confusing but red and green made perfect sense so I don’t know how anyone could ever run a red light. I knew about the steering wheel and one pedal made you go fast and one made you slow down. What I didn’t realize is that driving involves dealing with other drivers, reading road signs and street names, and having a sense of direction.
So I spent the first week getting used to reading street signs; looking up for traffic lights (in Australia, we don’t do the hanging traffic lights thing); getting used to where my car is so I can park and speeding on the freeway. Because everybody speeds on the freeway. 60mph is a happy minimum; do any less than 60 and you’re a danger to everyone because everyone needs to duck and dive around you. So far, only a few mistakes. I got lost trying to find the bridge to Fremont, I almost merged into the side of a guy who liked camping in my blind spot and I let a rear wheel go up on to the kerb when I was navigating a parking lot. All in all, I’m doing well.
Now that the necessary re-learning is 90% out of the way, I can enjoy driving again. I get into a comfortable trance where I’m paying attention to what I’m doing but everything is automatic. Things fall into place and I’m not so frantic and reactionary. (Of course now, the ice is arriving and it’s better if I just stay off the roads until Spring arrives.)
For some reason, your post made me think of this ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U9I7QrpSkk
I think you may have even linked this to me at some stage. Have you seen it before?
Al Gore IS like a really smart grandpa!
And living in a city will totally kill your driving skills. Just ask M’s car, which I dented not once but TWICE this past weekend.
ah, driving. the midwest girl in me misses the open road, a car with a full tank of gas, and tunes. yes, tunes. and singing at the top of my lungs (what’s going on..). er, no?
i am the best driver. no. really. somehow, i fought against all innate stereotypes of an asian female and not only am i kickass at everything from parallel parking to always having an almost eerie correct sense of direction, but i can get myself and any person i’m with out of any tickets.
oh, the tickets. right. well, i’m a good driver but i like to speed. what can i say, insert obligatory comment here (she’s a fast girl; she likes life in the fast line; etc.)
you’re only going 60mph? You’d get run over so fast in Detroit…. we go 60 on residential streets!
Congrats on driving again though..it’s such a feeling, being in control of all that metal by just a small wheel in front of you.
[PS thanks for the link on the side ;-)]