Driving with the Opposition

I am a person who has made my share of mistakes while driving, and I hope I have learned from them. I am much older and I think I am a lot wiser than when I was a boy racer. Now I place the emphasis on driving safely while anticipating what the other fellow is going to do. I have built up guidelines that keep me safe and out of trouble, and perhaps I have become a little smug.

Once in a while I find myself the passenger in a car that is being driven by the mad opposition. I think this happens for my sins, but there I am at the mercy of  a hooligan on wheels. Someone who flouts not only all my careful guidelines and rules but also the rules of the road. We are driven at great speed when we were not really in any hurry to get to our destination. Why is that necessary?

I wonder what goes through the heads of some people while they are driving? My driver charged through small spaces and cut off others while swerving and changing lanes as though he were a mad man. I found that while looking ahead I was driving for him by pressing down hard on the floor with my toes curled. So, I stopped looking. I simply took in the scenery out the side window as best I could as it flashed on by.

Most people would have been totally stressed, calling out look out for this or that. Not me, I simply told myself that if today is the day when this life ends I will simply go with the flow. I said absolutely nothing. I didn't need to because there was another person in the car with whom the driver was having a conversation.

It's a strange thing about Spain in that drivers are generally in a hurry, as especially those people in the cities usually are, even if they really aren't going anywhere important. I think it's the coffee. We speak quickly and do things in a hurry when we really could take things in less of a panic. This ultimately leads to car crashes on the highway and people die. For this reason I can't wait for the day when all cars will drive themselves. Also, when that happens I won't have to be so selective about who I ride in a car with.

Now, I almost need to give the driver a test before I get in his car as I place my life in his careless hands.

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael