More to Life
Sam Aurelius Milam III
Do
you realize that many of the people who're driving cars nowadays have never
seen a simple car, not in their entire lifetimes? They might never
have turned a window winder to roll down a window, used a key to unlock
a door, or driven a car that doesn't have airbags. Some of the younger
ones might think that electronic navigation systems are the only way to
find your way around. They might never have seen a real road map,
one that shows more than just Interstate highways. Electronic navigation
systems, being used nowadays to replace maps, are among the more frivolous
of the recent increments in unnecessary complexity.
When
I was young, I went on many family trips. After I was old enough,
one of the pleasures of the road was to do the navigating for Poppa.
I'd sit with a map unfolded in my lap, a real map, a map that actually
showed the little country roads, with numbers marked beside them.
Those old maps even showed rivers, and actually gave their names.
I'd read the highway signs. I'd watch the bridges for the names of
the rivers. I'd keep track, on the map, of where we were. Poppa
didn't need a complicated electronic navigation gizmo. He knew where
to turn, and which direction, because he had me. It was a good experience
for both of us.
With
Interstate highways and electronic navigation systems, a child in a car
nowadays isn't on a pleasure trip. He's a prisoner. He can't
even sit up and look out of the window because of the .0000whatever statistically
nonsensical probability that the car might crash into something.
That imaginary possibility and a mindless compliance with government edicts
have allowed the security nuts to imprison children with their backs against
the seats. It isn't surprising that they're putting televisions in
the cars. A trip is already a mind-numbing experience for a child.
Why not add a television? The electronic navigation systems, onboard
televisions, and imprisonment belts that are imposed on children today,
all taken together, constitute a form of child abuse.
Have
you noticed that, when the car companies advertise their cars, they like
to show them being driven on little two-lane highways that twist through
mountains or forests, or maybe along an ocean or a river? I don't
remember seeing an advertisement for a car on an Interstate highway.
That's because the Interstates don't have any spirit, any soul. You'd
never know if you'd crossed a river, even if you had a map, even if the
map showed rivers. What's the point of speed and efficiency if they
don't have any passion? What's the point of security that doesn't
have any future except for sterile efficiency? Where's the joy?
If you want security, then stay at home. Garages are safe, but sitting
in a garage isn't why cars were invented.
Here
are some suggestions. Get rid of the televisions in the back seats.
Get rid of the imprisonment belts and let the kids sit up and look out
of the windows. Get rid of the navigation systems. Get some
maps, real ones that show real landmarks. Give the maps to the kids
so that they can learn to read the maps and observe the signs and the landmarks
along the way. Quit driving on the soulless Interstates and travel
instead on real roads. Travel on the kind of roads with curves, hills,
and bridges, where you can see houses with pealing paint and junk littering
the front yards, pastures with cows in them, railroads, lakes, rivers,
and trees. Slow down. Look at the scenery. Stop in the
little towns for snacks. Read the roadside historical markers.
Don't worry if your trip takes longer that it would have taken on the Interstates.
Like Mahatma Gandhi said, there's more to life than increasing its speed.
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| May 2009 | Frontiersman, c/o 4984 Peach Mountain Drive, Gainesville, Georgia 30507 | Page 1 |
