Cross Country Ramble 6: Drivers

Sent: 04/08/96

In the week or so Ken and I have been traveling we have begun to categorize the drivers who pass by us.

1. Barrel Drivers:  They drive vehicles you can hear from miles away barreling up the highway. They rarely move at all to the right when they pass by us. I think about what I might do if I had a "piece".
2. Pass Right:  These drivers are encountered on busy streets with lots of stores or mini malls along the way. They quickly pass by us and then make an immediate right turn in front of us. We put the brakes on to avoid hitting them. We wish we were in a tank and could proceed forward without doing any damage to us.
3. Careful Driver:  This driver is almost invariably an older driver who is obviously driving very carefully past us so as not to hit us. Unfortunately, he or she is only about 6 inches away from us and is going along only slightly faster than we. This continues our nervous anxiety much longer than the barrel driver.
4. Honkers:  There is no stereotypical honker. It can be a truck, a four-by-four or a sedate sedan. They come from behind, honking wildly, usually about six feet before they are going to pass us. This startling sound lifts us off our seats as the car goes flying by. Sometimes the driver is glaring and sometimes waving hello. We have a wave of our own we would like to give.
5. Yahoo:  These drivers are typically young men with three or four friends in an old beat-up pick-up or sedan. As they pass they yell "yahoo" or its equivalent enthusiastic sound. We're not sure if this is a friendly greeting or an obscenity. If they have moved way over from us, we count it as youthful enthusiasm.
6. Favorites:  These are the drivers who pull way over into another lane when they pass us by. We wish there were more of them.

Carol

Ramble 7: Sun, Hills & Wind.