A thought before you hit the road

Posted on 20 December 2011

The road. That thing we travel on to discover, explore and survive. Something at the end of which is a loved one, homestead, adventure, awakening, career or education. We may fly, sail or take the train but we always find our way to the road going toward something significant.

Never doubt that every one of us on the road is a traveller to the core. It is the one place we can truly find something unifying. Yet we abuse this common ground.

It has become a power trip, the alter ego expressway and an outlet for rage we would seldom express if we weren’t ensconced in a metal and glass cocoon, able to speed away and leave the conflict behind.

That cocoon is a large part of the problem. We don’t treat the occupants of the road as people. We see only the car not the people within and we feel inconvenienced by its presence so we sit on its tail, flash our lights and force it off the lane; push in when we have no place and block the way when someone’s path has ended and needs to merge with ours. Would we do this on a footpath?

It’s a vicious place, a river of bad karma: Tempers fly; commutes become tirades; some wish the taxi who cut them off would crash, forgetting it is not just a minibus, but 17 people on an often terrifying journey.

That the driver of that taxi ignores his human cargo is the most vile infraction. Yet many “normal” drivers treat their passengers no better. It is not uncommon to see a car hurtling by with a family on board, children bouncing around in the back without seat belts. The driver’s seat becomes the chair at the head of the table – a lecture podium or a throne. At worst it is a seat at the gambling table: I’ve often witnessed the same drivers put theirs and other families at risk by overtaking on blind corners.

We become a strange bionic breed on the road, tethered as we are to our machines.

Yet think of the open boat on the water way. You cruise by, you see the occupants and they see you. They are strangers yet you wave and they wave back – that ancient signal, an empty hand: “Look, no weapons. I mean no harm.” Think of horse riders, cyclists, hikers and joggers meeting on a path, sharing a kind word, a smile or maybe a conversation. Even on the road motorcyclists often greet one another with a nod of their heads and I’ve wondered if it’s not because they are kindred spirits, but because they are completely visible as humans, vulnerable and exposed.

Have you ever waved at the people in the back of the pick up in front of you? They have surely waved back. You most probably slowed down to avoid any danger in the vicinity of such vulnerable people. You might have even lingered to enjoy a moment of human interaction on the road we all share, going somewhere we hope to reach in one piece.

Look around you. There are people there, travellers, just like you. Take the time to acknowledge them. Chances are you will enjoy the journey so much more.

 Photo by Sarah Duff

 






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