This morning, my husband and I went to drop my car off for an oil change; from there, he took me to work. On our way to the mechanic’s, I was behind him the whole way. It reminded me of situations where a group of friends, in multiple cars, would go somewhere together and, when some of the drivers didn’t know the way, the drivers would make arrangements to follow, in chains of cars, the one person who knew where they were going. “I don’t know how to get there. Bob, you go first and we’ll follow you.”
For the youth (read: da yout’), this entailed:
Bob getting his car started and situated in a place where the directionless can pull up behind him
Bob and his car train pulling out: Destination, ho!
Bob and crew driving slowly enough that no one is left behind, but not so slow that they annoy the rest of the cars on the road
Bob’s followers riding close enough behind that not more than one car can merge in between them during the trip, lest they lose sight of one another
Bob paying extra attention to the cars behind him and to the lights in front of him, making sure that he doesn’t go through any yellows that might go red before his followers can make it through. If this happens, he has to pull over and wait for them to come through on the next green, and they have to slow before they get to where he is waiting to let him pull out in front of the train once again.
The continuation of this constant hyper-vigilant dance until they arrive at their destination.
I can’t say I miss this method. As an anxious driver, “following” only added to my nervousness. Still, tho, there was a sense of togetherness in this social driving that is beautiful in retrospect.