I did a fair amount of driving around yesterday, which was fun and exciting, given that a big snow/ice storm was moving in. Traffic moved slowly, and I was reflecting about our relationship to cars. That it is screwed up goes without saying. But just how is it screwed up? I think I figured it out.
Like all of the objects we use on a daily basis, cars are simply another tool, like a kitchen faucet or a washing machine. Yet somehow, probably starting with snake oil salesman Henry Ford, the idea of the car has grown to mythical proportions. Most people seem to view them as extensions of themselves, something to which we have an unalienable right. (Guns also seem to be viewed this way.)
I can't think of any other THING that inspires such strong emotion. I've never read about someone experiencing snowblower rage. No one says, "You'll have to pry my sewing machine out of my cold, dead hands!"
So the next time I'm feeling frustrated in traffic, I want to remember to tell myself, "This car is just a tool that I am using to get somewhere. Like a hammer or a snow shovel or my knitting needles. Not worth getting upset about."
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7 comments:
I agree with everything you said except for one: you might be that person who says, "You'll have to pry my sewing machine out of my cold, dead hands!" Maybe?
Only on Xmas eve when I'm working on that LAST pair of pajamas. (Last year, my sewing machine took matters into its own hands and broke that day!)
Suzy, you wrote: "I've never read about someone experiencing snowblower rage."
I actually have witnessed snowblower rage. Two guys almost coming to blows over where the other is blowing his snow. Really. And what about bicyclists? Haven't you seen bicyclists exhibit road rage? Douglas Adams once described someone as "self-righteous as only a bicyclist can be." Or words to that effect. The thing that I struggle with most is when other drivers do things that are intentionally rude.
One thing that I think about when other drivers do things that seem stupid is that they probably just made a mistake. People make mistakes. Knitters make mistakes (well, maybe not all knitters.) Even husbands make the occasional mistake. And we don't kill them because of it. Why should drivers be any different? The thing that I struggle with most is when other drivers do things that are intentionally rude. And what is it about being in a car that makes otherwise nice people turn into rude people? Of course, some of them might be rude all the time.
OK, what about can opener rage?
And you've got to admit, cars seem to bring out that special something in people.
I don't know any husbands who make mistakes.
You might need to pry knitting needles out of some cold dead hands.
That's what my husband said too. And I replied, "No, knitters say 'I just have to finish this row!'"
What a brilliant post.
Oh the things we wacky Americans think of as unalienable rights!
Ha!
At the end of the day, in terms of material objects, it is my books that I will fight for.
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