I am constantly amazed at the really stupid things that people do. I witnessed one such example of driver stupidity (or sheer hatefulness) on a trip through Kansas.
My daughter and I were enjoying the drive to visit my son, who was then living in Dodge City, Kansas. The day was beautiful and the traffic, while fairly heavy, was traveling smoothly and well spaced out. We were taking a major state road across the state from east to west that was used a lot by large trucks making deliveries to the in-state cities and towns. The land was flat and the road was good and straight (a novelty to us from the curvy roads of Kentucky) and the traffic was moving at a good clip.
We had been traveling a while when the traffic started to bunch up and slow down. We found ourselves sandwiched in a line of huge tractor-trailer trucks as the speed dropped. We were on a two lane road, and while the traffic wasn't heavy, it was constant enough that passing wasn't a good option, so we settled down to wait. Kansas has a lot of two lane roads but the planners were considerate of the high number of trucks that use them, so every so often the road would widen out to three lanes to let slower vehicles be safely passed. We figured we would just have to wait for one of these passing lanes to resume our speed.
It was as we approached one of these lanes on a slight incline that we were able to see the cause of the slow down. Up ahead was a line of five motor homes or 5th wheel trailers, enjoying their trip at a leisurely pace. We all relaxed, seeing that we would now be able to pass them and continue on our trip. The truckers started jocking for the left lane, ready to pass the slow moving caravan. Just as the passing lane opened up the lead motor home pulled into the left hand, or passing lane. The others followed along in the right lane at the same steady speed. The truckers fell in behind in the passing lane following the lead motor home assuming that he would pull over and let them by. The lead motor home continued on his steady pace, effectively blocking the trucks from passing the other homes. At the end of the passing lane he pulled back into the caravan of homes with the truckers no better off than they had been.
The line of trucks and motor homes continued on for several more miles, with the tension becoming almost tangible. Up ahead we saw another passing lane coming up and I let out a sigh of relief. Now maybe this tense situation would be resolved and the trucks could pass the slow traffic. Once again the motor homes approached the passing lane and once again the lead home pulled into the left lane and blocked the trucks from passing. I looked at my daughter and told her to slow down and drop back because things were going to get ugly.
Sure enough as the passing lane ran out the motor homes squeezed to the left once again, and the trucks were now inter-meshed into the line of slow moving vehicles. You could almost feel the frustration and anger as the truckers followed along, unable to get an open spot to pass. Finally a brief break in the oncoming traffic allowed the first truck in the line to start to pass. There was little hope that he would have enough time or space to complete the line of vehicles. As he ran out of space before the approaching traffic he just pulled to the right, forcing the lead recreational vehicle off the road and onto the wide, flat shoulder. He bounced to a halt as the trucker zoomed on. One by one the remaining tractor-trailers started passing at every opportunity. As they ran out of room they just squeezed the motor homes off the highway and onto the shoulder. My daughter and I found ourselves cheering the truckers on as they put each vehicle off the road. We both felt it was a deserved payback! Before long, all of the recreational vehicles were sitting on the side of the road, unharmed, as we zipped by them.
I have never been able to figure out why the recreational vehicles chose to intentionally create such a situation. They had to have realized that an angry trucker with a huge truck holds all the aces. Fortunately, the truckers did them no harm, other than stopping their trip briefly. I wonder if they ever realized how lucky they were that their actions didn't create a more dangerous situation.
As for me, I learned one thing. You don't mess with a trucker!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
Thanksgiving Musings
Thanksgiving is the kick-off for what I have referred to as "the 30 day stuffing". The turkey being stuffed being ME! I heard a commentator the other day encourage people to quit agonizing over the unhealthiness of the Thanksgiving meal. It is by definition a day of pure gluttony. After all the Pilgrims were celebrating a bountiful harvest that gave them plenty of food for a feast. (They also had to eat as much as they could before the things that couldn't be wintered spoiled or rotted!)
Today we celebrate being able to eat all we want without feeling guilty for not eating low-fat, low-calorie, low-cholesterol, low-salt, sugar free foods. I can tell you no one in my house suffered by eating healthy!
Thanksgiving for us is all about tradition, as it is in most homes. We use the dishes hubby and I received for wedding gifts, the silverware from my Aunt Gertrude, the candlesticks from a first Christmas, a serving platter from my mother-in-laws family, and decorations including acorns and buckeyes collected by the grandkids. Every dish has a story and a history. Everyone's favorite is the "Dead Salad". Years ago, when my children were young, they eagerly looked forward to church pot lucks. As with most churches the ladies outdid themselves bringing their best foods. One widow lady would often bring a molded salad consisting of pineapple, nuts, cream and cream cheese. The only other time she made this salad was to take to a bereaved family after a death. She said you had to come to a church pot luck to eat it before you were dead--thus she called it her Dead Salad. In memory of this lovely, if quirky, lady we always have Dead Salad on Thanksgiving.
It also is the one time I don't bow to the trend to casual entertaining. I lovingly set the table with linens, china, and silver. (I spent one whole evening polishing the damn stuff but the dining room gleamed!) We have candlelight and a centerpiece. This year we had a small crowd and there was room at the table for the boys to join the adults. Usually, the young people are seated in the kitchen or at a small table to themselves, which they actually enjoy because of limited adult supervision.
With wide eyes the "little boys" came into the dining room. They were directed to their places and stood beside their chairs waiting for the signal to eat. I held my breath, since these two at four and seven are just barely "housebroken". Under normal circumstances their eating area tends to look like the aftermath of a "dirty bomb". I had placed them with an adult on each side to supervise but had set a full table setting for them both.
The food was passed with the adults helping the little ones serve themselves. I smiled to overhear my son instruct his seven year old that the "little" fork was for his salad. He then gently touched an eager arm and told the four year old to wait until everyone was served to begin eating. The little boys behaved like little gentlemen, eating quietly and neatly, obviously feeling the weight of the occasion. I was proud of them. I believe that children rise to the occasion and should be included. They proved me right.
Of course, it didn't affect the near free-for-all as they fixed sandwiches out of the left-overs a few hours later.
Today we celebrate being able to eat all we want without feeling guilty for not eating low-fat, low-calorie, low-cholesterol, low-salt, sugar free foods. I can tell you no one in my house suffered by eating healthy!
Thanksgiving for us is all about tradition, as it is in most homes. We use the dishes hubby and I received for wedding gifts, the silverware from my Aunt Gertrude, the candlesticks from a first Christmas, a serving platter from my mother-in-laws family, and decorations including acorns and buckeyes collected by the grandkids. Every dish has a story and a history. Everyone's favorite is the "Dead Salad". Years ago, when my children were young, they eagerly looked forward to church pot lucks. As with most churches the ladies outdid themselves bringing their best foods. One widow lady would often bring a molded salad consisting of pineapple, nuts, cream and cream cheese. The only other time she made this salad was to take to a bereaved family after a death. She said you had to come to a church pot luck to eat it before you were dead--thus she called it her Dead Salad. In memory of this lovely, if quirky, lady we always have Dead Salad on Thanksgiving.
It also is the one time I don't bow to the trend to casual entertaining. I lovingly set the table with linens, china, and silver. (I spent one whole evening polishing the damn stuff but the dining room gleamed!) We have candlelight and a centerpiece. This year we had a small crowd and there was room at the table for the boys to join the adults. Usually, the young people are seated in the kitchen or at a small table to themselves, which they actually enjoy because of limited adult supervision.
With wide eyes the "little boys" came into the dining room. They were directed to their places and stood beside their chairs waiting for the signal to eat. I held my breath, since these two at four and seven are just barely "housebroken". Under normal circumstances their eating area tends to look like the aftermath of a "dirty bomb". I had placed them with an adult on each side to supervise but had set a full table setting for them both.
The food was passed with the adults helping the little ones serve themselves. I smiled to overhear my son instruct his seven year old that the "little" fork was for his salad. He then gently touched an eager arm and told the four year old to wait until everyone was served to begin eating. The little boys behaved like little gentlemen, eating quietly and neatly, obviously feeling the weight of the occasion. I was proud of them. I believe that children rise to the occasion and should be included. They proved me right.
Of course, it didn't affect the near free-for-all as they fixed sandwiches out of the left-overs a few hours later.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
It's Over--So Drop It
My mother always told me there were two things a hostess should avoid as topics of conversation during a dinner--politics and religion. The inclusion of those topics would insure a polite dinner turning into a shouting match. As usual, mom was right.
I make it a point not to discuss politics at all. I prefer to read and listen then make up my own mind. I also don't tell who I vote for. That's my business and it's private. I wish I could say the same for everyone else!
The weeks leading up to the presidential election have been a miserable time to endure. I have rarely been subjected to such endless diatribe against both candidates. The utter viciousness of the attacks has left me unsettled and concerned. Blame and finger pointing have been leveled for everything from hurricanes and drought to global economy--by both parties at both parties. And this isn't happening on television but in my town by my friends. Neighbor has turned against neighbor and the intensity of the attacks has been unnerving to say the least.
The last straw for me was the day after the election when a young man I know posted on Facebook that he was "unfriending" everyone who hadn't agreed with him during the election. Really? I thought that was the reason that this country was originally founded--so we could have an opinion that was different from someone else. In the process we decided that the leaders would be elected by a vote of the people they would govern. Once elected they would strive to do the best for the country and ALL of the people. When did this change into the back-biting, self-serving party system in place now? When did belonging to one party or the other mean you were automatically a *&*%%^$#$ son-of-a-bitch?
I guess I am simple minded, but I seem to think that if all the men and women elected to to various seats in Washington worked for the betterment of the country (instead of their own agendas) it might actually result in some good for the people of that country. That was the idea right? I also seem to remember that the Constitution has a built in set of checks and balances to ensure that we don't slip into a dictator type leadership. (The old guys who wrote that declaration had been there and done that!) So the election of one person to lead the nation shouldn't automatically ensure that total destruction of the nation will automatically occur. So I guess all of those of you have been loudly decrying the downfall of the United States in only a matter of days, can unpack your bags and stick around. Have a little faith that the idea of democracy first envisioned all those years ago by a group of citizens hungry for the freedom to make their own choices will work no matter who is elected as top dog.
Especially drop all this agonizing, name calling, shouting, and abuse and get back to the important things in life like hugging your kids and enjoying the time you have!!
***********
"Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future."
-John F. Kennedy-
I make it a point not to discuss politics at all. I prefer to read and listen then make up my own mind. I also don't tell who I vote for. That's my business and it's private. I wish I could say the same for everyone else!
The weeks leading up to the presidential election have been a miserable time to endure. I have rarely been subjected to such endless diatribe against both candidates. The utter viciousness of the attacks has left me unsettled and concerned. Blame and finger pointing have been leveled for everything from hurricanes and drought to global economy--by both parties at both parties. And this isn't happening on television but in my town by my friends. Neighbor has turned against neighbor and the intensity of the attacks has been unnerving to say the least.
The last straw for me was the day after the election when a young man I know posted on Facebook that he was "unfriending" everyone who hadn't agreed with him during the election. Really? I thought that was the reason that this country was originally founded--so we could have an opinion that was different from someone else. In the process we decided that the leaders would be elected by a vote of the people they would govern. Once elected they would strive to do the best for the country and ALL of the people. When did this change into the back-biting, self-serving party system in place now? When did belonging to one party or the other mean you were automatically a *&*%%^$#$ son-of-a-bitch?
I guess I am simple minded, but I seem to think that if all the men and women elected to to various seats in Washington worked for the betterment of the country (instead of their own agendas) it might actually result in some good for the people of that country. That was the idea right? I also seem to remember that the Constitution has a built in set of checks and balances to ensure that we don't slip into a dictator type leadership. (The old guys who wrote that declaration had been there and done that!) So the election of one person to lead the nation shouldn't automatically ensure that total destruction of the nation will automatically occur. So I guess all of those of you have been loudly decrying the downfall of the United States in only a matter of days, can unpack your bags and stick around. Have a little faith that the idea of democracy first envisioned all those years ago by a group of citizens hungry for the freedom to make their own choices will work no matter who is elected as top dog.
Especially drop all this agonizing, name calling, shouting, and abuse and get back to the important things in life like hugging your kids and enjoying the time you have!!
***********
"Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future."
-John F. Kennedy-
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
