I have't any pictures to accompany this post, but I wanted to let those of you who have been tuning in know that I have taken up residence in Kenosha. Now I just have to convince the DMV of the same (and be assured, these days they are skeptical), and then I'll be all set.
Perhaps it would be easier to get rid of the car and not have to suffer the complexities of owning one. I won't launch into a lefty diatribe on the evils of fossil fuel consumption, etc. Instead I'll suggest that we, a nation, could make vast improvements in the quality of our lives if we merely gave a moment's attention to the way we utilize these machines of ease. Instead of making two trips uptown to run errands, make a list of your errands and do them in one trip. For those who scoff and say, "Who doesn't do this already—it's so obvious?!?" I would say, "Since you've conquered the first goal, your new goal is to look for alternate means of transportation to run those errands."
If you can't do without the car, is there someone in your neighborhood who needs to run similar errands? Could you carpool? Could you run their errand and save them a trip?
The bottom line: Maximize the benefits of putting your auto on the road.
My father learned to drive under the tenet "anticipate". Maybe we need to anticipate a bit forward in time.
A brief story and I'll rest my case. I was returning home from a bike ride along a main thoroughfair a couple of weeks ago when I saw a car pulled over to the side of the road and a woman walking away from the car. I slowed my bike and asked her if she needed help. She told me that she had lost her credit card out her car window as she was reading the number to someone over the cell phone. I believe she was the most chagrined that the wind had swept into her car window, catching her by surprise, and stealing the card from her hand.
I was chagrined that she was driving, talking on the cell phone and reading a credit card number all at the same time that she was sharing the road with me. I told her that if I saw it in the road I would ride it back to her. I hoped that she would think perhaps my life was of more value after I made the offer than she did before. I don't like people risking my life as a rule. Upon reflection, I don't think she would have made the cognitive leap. How many would?
1 comment:
This MUST be the true epitomy of idiotic multi-tasking! I sometimes wonder when I'll die at the hands of some multi-tasker like the woman you encountered, or some loony aggressive driver. The more gadgets we have to keep track of, the more stressed we get, the more reckless we become. . ..
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