So I had to drive my parents to the airport the other day. This meant my first actual solo drive on a highway, seeing as I would be driving back afterwards. My being alone and tired is never a good mix when it comes to thoughts and wanderings, seeing as this is when they run into my head. So I began thinking about life and seeing as I was in a car, the thoughts melded together, and after some fine analysis, and almost missing the off ramp, I realized the thoughts actually fit together rather well.
If you don't drive, don't read this, you'll understand it, but not in the same way, just wait a year or two until you can. That is, of course, assuming you're waiting to turn whatever age your state says is good enough for you to drive. If you're 26 and don't drive, then you should 1) move out of your parent's house, 2) get a job and start saving the money, and 3) take the driving test. That is, unless of course you use public transportation or car pool, which are good things to do and make people happy when you do them. I just like being independent. The reason I added this paragraph really, is just because I don't want a bunch of little 14 year olds e-mailing me about how they've no clue what I'm talking about, not that I have something against 14 years olds, they just shouldn't drive. I've already started to write what you'll soon see is about 4 paragraphs down from this one, if you count the one-liner. And I realized that 14 year olds should read this, it tells them all about life on the road. No pun intended.
So.. back to the whole... topic thing.
Your car is a symbolism of you, you just havn't realized it yet. And life can be summed up by the short trips and long hauls you make with your car. It's amazing, really. I'm not going to bother explaining most of the metaphors from now on on this page, so figure them out yourself, and if you don't understand, place a card in the suggestion box in the home page. I remind you, this site isn't made for you, it's made for me, so don't be surprised if I don't answer.
You start off buying your car, either new or used, depending on your capabilities as a person. Cars all have their own signs of identification. Just from looking at certain symbols on a car, you can see where it came from, it's family's reputation, and so on. Unlike life though, you get to test drive your car. And your journey starts. From now on, you'll need to maintain your car, give it fuel when it needs it, let it rest for a bit, take it to the mechanic for an oil change every 3000 miles, etc...
It's the driving part that I wanted to get to. On the road, you might find that for a long time you drive alone, with no one around you. You're allowed to go a certain speed, depending which road you take, some people take the long way, some like the faster route, which means more danger, as it hurts more to hit someone at 60 than 25 MPH. On the slower roads, there are traffic lights, which allow you to look around for a bit, as your foot rests on the brakes, you can see the people around you, take a breath, relax a bit, etc... On the road, there are rules, rules to most about anything. If you break the rules, you get reprimanded, some things you can pay off easily, with only a few hours taken away from your life in court time (this is strangely akin to when mom tells dad what you did, and dad decided your punishment) and classes (the lecture that soon follows). Bigger violations end up in bigger punishments, like prison, where you can only leave your room after you're thought about what you've done. You can also leave your room to eat, and every once in a while you'll get to watch TV. But watch out, because your older brother might come in and pick on you for a bit, while mom and dad are not watching. Wow, I just completely turned things around on that one, the metaphor is backwards. Now back to our show... But if you're lucky, you'll never have to deal with these punishments. So that's the basics.
On the highway, you'll realize, is where you make your longest trips. While driving, you might realize that you've been following the same person for some time, and you've been right behind them all along, same goes for people alongside you, and behind you. Keep an eye on those mirror, that Nissan Maxima might have been there for the past 15 minutes calmly keeping pace with you. Sometimes, the person you've been next to is going to the exact same place as you, sometimes they'll get off a few exits before you, some people you never see at all. On the radio, you might hear of car accidents, and traffic jams, that your driving mates might have been in, you might also see the guy who's been trailing you drive straight off a bridge, but no one promised your trip was going to be full of good things. On a lighter side, you might realize that traffic is going along smoothly, and you're going 20 over the limit, and keeping up with traffic quite well. These are the fine times of the road. As you go, you might encounter a flat tire, or your car might break down, but you can't expect to not have a few pit stops.
As you venture down the interstate, you might realize something about sizes. Vehicles in general come in a great variety of these. You might see a big semi come along behind you, or, you might come upon one. Don't be scared of these fellows. They're a little slow to start, and if they veer a little sharply, they might nick your car, and if they fall over on you, you'll probably die. But being around these guys will lead to good too, they always know where a good place to eat is, and if you're low on gas, tailgate these guys and they'll pull you forward with some kinda physics thing I don't know the details about, but I know it exists. You'll also see vans, mini-vans, and pick-ups, which are obviously not as big as others, but are becoming fairly normal to see around. The little guys are the ones you need to watch out for, they're fast and they don't know where they're going, they're a danger to society at large, be careful. Luxury cars are a pain in the ass too, they're too large to be so small and they have way too much front for their own good. They think they can just shove themselves anywhere they please, and they never give thanks or anything.
As you may have not realized before, even a small trip to the supermarket can be a metaphor of life. I hope you read this and understandd it, that is... if you took the time to. I think if everyone read this and understood it, things would go along a lot nicer on the road, seeing as people would realize it's their life in a small crystal snow ball. So next time you're out and about, see who's cutting you off, and see who's letting you pass, and make sure, that when they or you reach the off ramp (whoever comes first) your give them the finger or a nice wave goodbye respectively.
