Originally posted on Monday, June 9, 2008 at 7:38pm ·
Speed limits are really more like
suggestions, said an uncle of mine when the ten-year-old me asked him why he
was driving 25 miles per hour over the speed limit. A consequence of commuting
up and down a mountain is that you quickly forget how fast you are going. This
has two results, an angry tailgater, or a quick glance down at your speedometer
that suddenly makes you feel like a Nascar driver and makes you nervously
glance around for police cars incognito.
In January, when I worked Accommodations, I was driving up the mountain and a car heading down flashed their lights at me. That usually means I forgot to turn my headlights on but when I reached to turn them on I found that they were on already. I tried to figure out what that flashing could have meant. I glanced over the dash to see if anything was wrong and then, I gasped in horror. As I, not paying much attention to the road, noticed a car parked in a rest stop...a nice, white, patrol car, lined up parallel with the road up the mountain. My heart jumped, it was too late for me to slow down. I stared in the rear view mirror as I passed and suddenly a siren blared and lights were flashing. I gulped, my parents were gonna kill me. And then, the patrol car flipped a u-turn and headed after a car zooming downhill. I let out the breath I'd been holding unconsciously and became forever aware of my speed.
Today, as my team and I were heading out of Accommo HQ back up to another cabin (that wasn't on our list but that we'd been told to do anyways), we had to stop to wait and drive across the main highway. So, we sat there. Glancing up the hill, Car, Car, Car. Glancing down, Car, Car........Car. Uphill, Car, Car. Downhill, Car. Clear........So we began to drive across and then, BUS!!!!! From around a blind corner up the hill a huge yellow school bus came barreling down on us. I shrieked. My leader shrieked. My co-worker shrieked. And then we laughed hysterically as we parked on the other side of the road.
Speaking of driving, here's a story of me learning to drive. My mother, bless her heart, was going to teach me how to drive the bitsy stickshift beamer (BMW) that my daddy had bought for me to learn in. So, we drove down to this walled-in grocery story parking lot and parked, facing away from other cars and potential pedestrians...i.e. towards the wall. Now, learning stickshift is difficult, but it is especially difficult when you've never driven a car before- ever. "Ok, now you're going to start the car with your foot on the brake and the other foot on the clutch."My mom said calmly. Ok, I did that, timidly. "Now, (as she released the emergency brake but kept her hand on it) slowly take your foot off of the brake and press on the gas. Now, let off the clutch....." WHOOSH! I let off the clutch waaay too fast and we went flying toward the brick wall. My mom frantically pulled the emergency brake and the car lurched to a halt. Brrriiiiiinnnng. My mom's cell phone went off. "Honey?" "Yeah." " Oh my gosh, my life just flashed before my eyes!!!"
A driver's license is supposed to certify that you are capable of safely functioning on the road but sometimes, I wonder.........
In January, when I worked Accommodations, I was driving up the mountain and a car heading down flashed their lights at me. That usually means I forgot to turn my headlights on but when I reached to turn them on I found that they were on already. I tried to figure out what that flashing could have meant. I glanced over the dash to see if anything was wrong and then, I gasped in horror. As I, not paying much attention to the road, noticed a car parked in a rest stop...a nice, white, patrol car, lined up parallel with the road up the mountain. My heart jumped, it was too late for me to slow down. I stared in the rear view mirror as I passed and suddenly a siren blared and lights were flashing. I gulped, my parents were gonna kill me. And then, the patrol car flipped a u-turn and headed after a car zooming downhill. I let out the breath I'd been holding unconsciously and became forever aware of my speed.
Today, as my team and I were heading out of Accommo HQ back up to another cabin (that wasn't on our list but that we'd been told to do anyways), we had to stop to wait and drive across the main highway. So, we sat there. Glancing up the hill, Car, Car, Car. Glancing down, Car, Car........Car. Uphill, Car, Car. Downhill, Car. Clear........So we began to drive across and then, BUS!!!!! From around a blind corner up the hill a huge yellow school bus came barreling down on us. I shrieked. My leader shrieked. My co-worker shrieked. And then we laughed hysterically as we parked on the other side of the road.
Speaking of driving, here's a story of me learning to drive. My mother, bless her heart, was going to teach me how to drive the bitsy stickshift beamer (BMW) that my daddy had bought for me to learn in. So, we drove down to this walled-in grocery story parking lot and parked, facing away from other cars and potential pedestrians...i.e. towards the wall. Now, learning stickshift is difficult, but it is especially difficult when you've never driven a car before- ever. "Ok, now you're going to start the car with your foot on the brake and the other foot on the clutch."My mom said calmly. Ok, I did that, timidly. "Now, (as she released the emergency brake but kept her hand on it) slowly take your foot off of the brake and press on the gas. Now, let off the clutch....." WHOOSH! I let off the clutch waaay too fast and we went flying toward the brick wall. My mom frantically pulled the emergency brake and the car lurched to a halt. Brrriiiiiinnnng. My mom's cell phone went off. "Honey?" "Yeah." " Oh my gosh, my life just flashed before my eyes!!!"
A driver's license is supposed to certify that you are capable of safely functioning on the road but sometimes, I wonder.........
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