Good Drivers Gone Bad

Most drivers think they are above average in their ability to maneuver motor vehicles. Way more than half of drivers believe they are in the top half. They probably drive as well as they compute mathematical problems.

Many drivers use their cell phones while cruising down the road. Some are merely chatting while others are texting their many close friends. Most who do this insist it does not impair their ability to control their cars, trucks, or SUVs. And yet …

While sharing the road with the above named drivers, one is often able to witness erratic behaviors. Vehicles bob and weave, speed up briefly, and then slow down. They are inattentive and have difficulty wending their way amidst the hazards on the road or even something as simple as turning a corner. (It was the turning a simple corner that got this idea started today.) When the out of control vehicle can finally be passed safely, invariable the driver is: 1.) older than dirt and nagged God at the creation or 2.) on the phone.

We all know how annoying those old people can be. They can't see or hear well, their judgment is impaired, and reaction times have slowed. Old people grew up in times when things were slower. The speeds on the nation's highways go faster than ever. They are timid and unsure and get in the way of the people with Places To Go.

Those people, the ones with Destinations, are on the phone updating their wide group of friends about the erratic driving of the old coot in front of the caller. As soon as possible, they whip around the offending old person, oblivious of oncoming traffic or barely missing another car while changing lanes. The old fart is passed, the caller resumes (only if we are all lucky) the driving lane, becomes engrossed in a new conversation, and slows down by at least twenty miles per hour.

Then I, the driver behind them both, get a chance to once again compare and contrast the bad drivers in front of me. Frankly, I don't see much difference. Driving is a privilege and a responsibility. If you are too old and feeble, I'm terribly sorry but you don't belong on the road. You are danger to yourself and others. If you are on the phone – Hang up and drive. You are just as much a danger as the old fart you despise. 

When Would You Like to Have Lived?

This is a great topic to explore. It was posed on my Writers' Forum a while ago. I've also joined a History Forum and it is a question there, as well.

What would have been your ideal place in history? We look at history books and decide when it would have been a great time to live.

Well, first of all, I'm female. So unless I only step back less than a hundred years, I have to give up my first class citizenship and become an automatic second class citizen just by virtue of my gender. I won't have the rights and freedoms I currently enjoy. Sorry, that's the reality of history.

If I were male or willing to give up my autonomy, I could travel back in time and perhaps be … well, a serf. Most people were not free no matter where they lived until democratic practices came into fashion. Feudal or aristocratic societies did not favor the common man, let alone the common woman. So kiss your autonomy goodbye.

But let's say you are somehow going to go from one of the hoi polloi today to one of the rich and semi-famous of yesteryear. Okay, you are a titled or landed person with control over your own life and have a lifestyle beyond the common drudge who serves you, willingly or unwillingly. You aren't the servant who is bowing and scraping or even the butler who only needs to bow, but you are the Master of the House. How are you with a sword? Or a mace? How well do you sit a horse? While wielding a sword?

You are in Europe and have a castle at your disposal. How great is that? But it's winter. Oh my. You are cold. You are rich and cold. There is no central heat and castles were at best, drafty. Your beautiful tapestries are hung in order to keep out most of the wind and you have servants to light fires all over the castle. Of course, this creates a lot of smoke and smudge, but at least you are warmer than the serfs who support you.

And you would like to read something. Even the aristocracy was often illiterate, but you are one of the lucky few who aren't. And, you have something new to read. Some hand copied Bible probably; they were the most frequent type of book produced. So, it's six PM and you have some time to read. But it's winter, in England. It's already dark and gloomy. You can't switch on a light, they haven't been invented yet. So your servant lights an oil lamp. They don't make much light, but what they lack in light they make up in smoke and more smudge.

If you happened to go back in time and be one of the masses, how in the world would you cope? How do even light the dang oil lamp, if you happened to get hold of one? There aren't matches yet, so you can't do that. And you certainly can't flick your Bic.

But you are Lord of the Manor and you would like a little late night snack. So you go to the larder and pour yourself some … well, it can't be much. There was no refrigerator, there is a larder. There is room temperature milk and since this is winter, it's cold. Now, if it were a bright summer evening, it wouldn't be cold milk, because of the whole room temperature thing. And you can't get most of the liquid refreshment we have today. Let me tell, I've tasted mead and it isn't all that great.

If you go back as just a regular Joe, there are other problems. You are cold and so need to stoke up the fire in the fireplace. If THAT went out, same problem with the whole start up the lamp. But, let's pretend you could get it started. Now you are hungry. How do you even bake bread without an oven? What exactly are you going to eat? How many ways can you make soup? No chips or pretzels, no soda, no fast food of any sort. You will be lucky to see any meat for special occasions, so I hope you like a subsistence vegetarian diet.

How will you support yourself? You know no useful skills. Being able to format text in Microsoft Word isn't going to be very useful. Even being literate is fairly useless, because books are VERY expensive. Knowing how to write is useless unless you also learned how to write with a quill. Paper is also VERY expensive.

Almost everything we know and use today wasn't around in the current fashion a few hundred years ago. And many people choose to go back even farther in time.

There was no treatment for many of the diseases that are slight annoyances today. Diabetics died young. Hemophiliacs died young. Appendicitis killed. High blood pressure killed. Accidents killed. Childbirth killed. Life was short and mean. The average age of death came decades faster than today. Someone my age would be old, today I'm "middle aged" and can count on about another thirty years alive.

When we read the history books, we think of the glory or beauty depicted. Some people mentioned the gorgeous art works or elevated societies. Well, yes. But we have that today for the lucky who have the money to enjoy it. Unless you are insisting your time travel is going to let you go back in time and enter a different economic class, you better be prepared to simply starve or freeze to death. And that doesn't seem like much fun. 

Building a Better Mousetrap

I have taken up a challenge offered by ProBlogger to improve my blog in 31 days. In that vein, I've decided to try to post my Little Bits of History essays and see if I can interest someone with some funds to help me get it published in some form.

So I built a new blogging space and began posting my history articles. And then, I find I'm supposed to make a list. Having a list is somehow supposed to help me drive traffic. Many of the most popular websites are nothing more than lists, linking to other websites. I'm not sure how to make my history essays into a list of any sort or how that would help.

I guess at the end of the month, or maybe at the end of each week, I could link to the previous week's topics and create a table of contents of sorts. Seems redundant.

So I thought I would try a list over here, just to be able to say I did it. The lists could also just be bullet points, a way to clarify thoughts, according to Darren.

So my topic of choice here today is: Roadside Memorials.

Highway fatalities are on the rise. In 1990 there were about 25,000 deaths from car accidents and by 2000 the number had been increased to 43,000. I have no figure for current motor vehicle accident fatalities.

Those figures are a per year rate so the numbers keep stock piling. There are crosses and angels and pots of flowers decaying all over the roadways. What is the purpose of this?

The people who really care will never be able to forget where their loved ones died. The rest of us, frankly, don't care. We have enough problems of our own. Memorials are great which is why they make graveyards. If you don't like that, get an urn for the ashes. Please stop littering my country's roads.

Most items left along the sides of the roads are considered to be trash. These seem to be an exception.

If you feel you must annoy the rest of the population with your insistence that your loved one's death is more important than ours, please remember:

1. These are distractions for other drivers.

2. They need to be maintained or they rot into a pile of frank trash.

3. They should diminish with time, not grow as you add more memorabilia.

4. What would the planet look like if everyone placed these shrines at the sites of death?

If the intersection was so dangerous that your family member was killed there, why are you placing something to cause even further distraction? Intersection memorials are growing in number as people are killed by others running red lights. So what is the purpose of pulling the eyes away from the traffic lights?

Some of these memorials have been there so long they are faded, paint is peeling, the wood is rotting. They look horrible. If you don't care enough to take care of the trash you put up along the side of the road, it should be removed.

Some people are very good at upkeep. And they keep adding more and more items to the memorial. Stop that.

My mother had a heart attack and died in the bathroom. We have since sold her house. What if we demanded a memorial of a cross (Mom was Catholic) be kept in the bathroom? This is absurd.

People die and are killed and no one gets out of here alive. It is sad when a life is tragically cut short. For those who are suffering with fatal, debilitating disease, they will tell you, "Well, at least it was quick."

I have no idea when the process of placing trash along the road began, but it needs to stop. Many crosses are in the middle of nowhere. Those scream, "This moron passed out behind the wheel and ran into these trees." Why would you want that tale told to the world? Perhaps they mean to say, "This is where a really bad driver met his or her end."

Whatever they are meant to convey, it is nothing the rest of the world is going to care about. Those who are affected, already care. The rest of us might be seeing a different message than the one you think you are sending. Please, take your trash and dispose of it properly. And keep your memories of your loved ones sacred in your heart. 

Another Day

Once again, there is trouble in the world of adults. One might think a group of adults could behave in a manner consistent with decorum and grace. One would be wrong. It is enough to give one a headache. Or maybe two or six or so.

And so another day might have been ruined. Except life is nothing if not for the choices we make. And I have to choose to do the best job I can and then realize some people just opt to be Mr. or Ms Crankypants.

Rather than permitting the Crankypants Contingency the power to ruin my day, I will choose to look at all the good things out there in the Rest of the Entire World instead.

Today was a beautiful day. The sun came out after several days of rain. The grass is turning the delicate shade of spring green as are the buds on the trees. The flowers are blooming. Even the kudzu is in bloom this time of year, making a beautiful and delicate lavender patchwork quilt spread across the trees.

I opened my office windows and a fresh breeze blew in. It was cleansed from days of rain and the pine pollen seems to have vanished, if not entirely then at least enough to not be an irritant.

My stint at the hospital as a volunteer was pleasant. The work load today was light and the nurses were congenial and the doctors were delightful. And, with all my work completed, I left an hour early.

I went to the grocery store and got a loaf of my favorite bread, sliced and now ready to brighten my breakfasts for the coming days. Cranberry and walnut bread is a great way to start the days. Add some fresh brewed coffee and fresh fruit and the meal becomes a feast.

I got a couple essays done today and learned about Australia's national airline and the RAF pilot who broke the sound barrier, on land. I suppose there are people who always need to push the envelope. I'm not certain why anyone needs to drive over 700 mph for any distance, but it probably is quite a rush, as it were.

Dinner was nice. Dick and I ate out on the lanai, with the windows open and a soft breeze blowing. Even the food was good.

My sister called and had some funny stories. Well, they were funny now and as she told them, but since it was my sister telling the stories, they had just a twinge of the horrific, as only her life can hold. It is always nice to talk to my sisters and the laughter always brightens even the darkest of days.

So, all in all, it was a good day. And I'm grateful for it.