“Bang, bang, bang ...” “What was that, it sounded like machine gun fire.” We were on our regular evening dog walk. The short pee walk before we go to sleep. “Nah, it is a car back firing on the main road” I replied. The next night, around the same time “bang, bang, bang,” etc. “Again, is that the same car? What has the world come to and where is the police?”
If it isn't that, it is a car or motorcycle trying to drag race down the road. They roar on the main highway by our neighborhood. A highway that is mostly empty around 11 at night, the time we typically walk our dogs. We feel sorry for those folks living closer to the highway. It must be really jarring at times; although there is a sound wall between their backyard and the road, it must be pretty loud of we who live a half mile down the road are bothered by it. Drag racing at 11 pm? At least the cops are asleep, so it is a free-for-all.
What is this world coming to? Where is the consideration for our fellow citizens, chivalry, empathy, class, you name it. Everybody is in there for themselves, stroking their narcissistic tendencies, trying to claim the vehicle with the fastest acceleration title, moreover, which vehicle is the loudest, the most souped up? Fuck that gas mileage, I'll just complain that gas prices are too high, and blame some politician, but keep on spewing it out of that enlarged tailpipe that makes a roaring sound of their monster truck. Who is all powerful and more manly. Or are they compensating for something they lack?
The other day I was driving home from having the van worked on and here came a car that was either a Mustang or a Camaro shoot by me with a big roar. I was on a 3-lane road following the sped of traffic. The dude weaves in and out of lanes trying to pass all kinds of seemingly traffic-law obeying citizens. In essence putting all those folks in harm’s way. A few weeks earlier, some lunatic was passing cars on the shoulder of the 4-lane highway I was on. It is not only Yorktown; it is this country. I saw it in Kansas City, Louisville and even in the mountains of Colorado.
I know, here is another old and decrepit guy who should no longer be driving complaining about the youth or fellow pavement users. No that's not it, I am no slough, and this is not only about drivers and their vehicles. As a country we have become a lot less considerate of other people. We grab them by the pussy, we make them look like idiots, and so on. We have become a society of slaves; slaves to society, corporate America, to our politicians and for some this is the only way they can distinguish themselves in this slave society. In their non-slave hours folks are trying to stand out, become individualized, without regards for others. And what is the remedy? I really do not know, maybe a bit more sense of community and responsibility.
Whenever I am outside, walking, working in the front yard, checking the mail or simply sitting on a park bench, I try to be courteous. Oh, I'll give you the middle finger greeting if you, at night, in the dark, come barreling down the road with your bright lights on and don't dim them when I know you can see me, but you insist on blinding me. Remember asshole, I can see you way earlier than you can see me, you don't have to shine those brights right into my face. I broke an ankle in 2001 when I accidentally stepped in a hole on the curb when some lady refused to dim her lights.
So here you see that I can dish it out as well. Use words that may offend some of you folks, and I am sorry, but I just want to make a point. This attitude that I describe in this post is what is hurting this country, our earth and our survival as species. We need to start thinking more collectively, be more aware of our fellow humans and realize what the results of our actions are on other folks and society. We do not live in a vacuum. Speeding up your or this society's demise is not getting you anywhere except that you drag everyone down with you, you damn narcissistic idiot. Everything we do affects others, even if we don't see it.
I am a trainer with the State of Virginia. I travel throughout the state to teach Erosion and Sediment Control and Stormwater Management. I try to take the back roads and I like taking photographs. I am a naturalist, trained in biology and ecology with a very deep rooted love for nature. In this blog I like to share my photography hobby, other hobbies of mine, including my passion for sailing, biking, hiking and nature. I will also share my philosophical outlook on life and some of experience.
Thursday, October 3, 2024
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