Start

I found a sticking point late last week and early this week. I almost feel like I contradict myself. On a few occasions, I have arrived home to find out that there was no parking space available for me in my apartment complex - we only get one reserved spot (which isn’t mine.) I am obliged to park on the street, my car is aging and not a lease. But probably every time I had to park on the street, moments later car from someone living in the surrounding area would come speeding by, uphill. On one occasion out of my own stubborn will and slowness to cross the street, I almost got hit, and once the driver saw me across the street, he stepped on the gas anyway.

Hard as it is for me to say it, and regardless of the speed limit, the principle of the matter is that these people need to SLOW DOWN! There are neighbors on a cross street that - even weekly - put up signs for those traversing the area to slow down because kids live there. There’s a church that does day-care in front of my apartment complex with kids of all ages running after balls and skateboarding. So, again, I wish these people would slow down!

I remember when I first got my car, no limit was a speed limit. I probably got at least 8 speeding tickets before my license was on probation. I even ended up in STOP class three times in my state and once more in Colorado. I had a sports car that went fast and that was my vice. As my “driver-ship” matured and I got more experience, I decided on one thing: to be a courteous driver, if not a slow one.

So here has come the day that when I turn to go home uphill about two and a half blocks to my humble abode, I go slow. I go 25. I go the speed limit. And everyone behind me has to suffer (which is when I get mine.)

To my son or daughter on the way, all I can say is that when I was a 16 and I just got my car, I knew I was fast, and I had lightning quick reactions. If a kid ran out in the street, I definitely did slow down - even if they were simply near it. But after seeing so many parents’ mean faces and thinking about you coming around in a few (6) months, I don’t want even the slightest chance that someone could hit you with their car.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 19th, 2006 at 9:33 am and is filed under Valentine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.