Word to the wise: Never speed up when you see a yellow light; rather, "slow down and prepare to break," according to my traffic school manual. If not, there may be a friendly police officer ready to pull you over and before you know it, you'll be sitting in 4-hour traffic school at a slightly dingy Radisson Hotel with a "Dr. Lopez" who quite possibly obtained his doctorate online. On the brighter side, the Defensive Driving course was not as utterly painful as I was expecting. There is a certain commodore when you get 20 pissed off people in one room who think they are all great drivers.
I found myself enjoying certain parts and, just like any class, there was a "brown noser" in the front row who was driving everybody nuts. There was also Floyd, who had a striking resembelence to Bob Marley. Floyd had been acccused of nearly every traffic violation in Illinois that I know of; If I were him, I think I would stick to public transportation altogether. Countless others will be remembered every time I glance at my Traffic School Diploma. So what did I learn? Well, I did learn that I am NOT a defensive driver; rather a driver who imposes my will on others--I believe they call people like me an "aggressive driver." I also learned, despite my best argument, that pedestrians ALWAYS have the right-of-way, even when they are acting like complete fools.
Upon leaving, I was in this weird and refreshed mood. You'd think I had just walked out of a day spa. I even splurged and took a cab home, which was an equally enjoyable experience. My Nigerian driver was so excited that he was going home to see his sisters in Africa next month he could hardly contain himself. I found myself celebrating with him--his joy was contagious. After last night, I'm convinced that if something good can come out of traffic school, then something good can result from just about anything...
4 comments:
oh Emily,
I absolutely loved this post. remember a certain someone in our freshman year days that was in charge of Traffic Court...ha. love you. thanks for sharing your experience with the blog world at large
Love this story! Such a positive attitude about traffic court. :)
=) good to hear that traffic school was such a positive experience. i guess one of the side benefits is if you ever seen one of those other 20 people in your class (or maybe even dr. lopez, for good measure) you'll know to slow down and drive in the opposite direction from them...
and here's to people traveling home for christmas, whether it's down the street or back to nigeria... that's a good smile. glad you're writing again em...
Emily Paul, I just found you! I hope you are doing great... I've been reading your old posts and it's really fun to read your thoughts on life. I would love to keep in touch and let me know if you are going to be in MN anytime soon or Colorado since we're moving there... check out our blog!
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