The Other Driver

Are you among those who worry the world is going down the proverbial tube? If so, you may appreciate knowing R. A. Lafferty predicted it a hundred years or so ago; and the cause may surprise you. “I tell you, it will engender absolute selfishness in mankind if the driving of automobiles becomes common. It will breed violence on a scale never seen before. … It will destroy the sense of neighborhood and the true sense of Nation. It will create giantized cankers of cities, false opulence of suburbs, ruinized countryside, and unhealthy conglomerations of specialized farming and manufacturing.”

Were automobiles not themselves enough of a black mark on society, Cary T. Grayson joined Lafferty by also chastising those who stoop to drive the dastardly conveyances, “We are not proving ourselves spiritually worthy of our material progress. We have not been neighborly, courteous, and kind upon the highway. Our lack of decency toward our fellow men is a definite black mark against us.”

Even Dave Barry climbed up onto that stump, adding a tad of arrogant superiority to the typical driver’s lack of neighborliness, courtesy, and such, “The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.”

All of that not withstanding, E. B. White had a valid point, “Everything in life is somewhere else, and you get there in a car.” Unfortunately, your only choice is to slip behind the wheel, taking care to heed the advice of the famous Anon. “Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly.”