Outside a shop on Park Avenue, Winter Park, Florida.
. . . not all of my thoughts are dark.
1. I know it makes other motorists angry when I don’t drive faster than the speed limit. More accurately, I should say that motorists make themselves angry over it, I am not an active operating force in their state of mind. Nevertheless, these are my fellow humans and I take no joy in their discomfiture. For example, in my neighborhood the speed limit is 25. It is about 1.8 miles from my house to the gate. Usually one or more cars are right on my tail as I slow down for the gate (it opens automatically, but not so quickly you don’t have to slow). I drive 25 in here, so they had to drive faster to catch me, in order to tailgate me. These are my own freaking neighbors! Nevertheless, I am not on this Earth to irritate them. So, I ask myself, am I under some obligation of courtesy to push my speed a bit, a couple or three miles per hour perhaps, to ease their tension. Same thing driving to Mt. Dora. The speed limit is 55 on a two-lane road (except for 45mph limits in Mt. Plymouth and Sorrento). Am I supposed to push the old speedo just a bit so those behind me don’t spend their time gnashing their teeth and such?
Well, I was so concerned about this that I asked my big brother for advice when he was here. His view was this: the rampant tail gaters, those who aggressively tailgate, even flashing their lights sometimes when they cannot pass (assuming they don’t just pass in the no passing zones, which is getting to be as common as running red lights, by the way), will not be satisfied, will not stop tailgating, no matter how fast I go, so it’s little use. In general, though, sez he, if traffic seems to want to move a few miles over the limit, maybe I could do 58 or so in the 55 so I don’t look like a deliberate obstructionist.
(clearing throat) I am not actively concerned, when driving, that I’m gonna get a speeding ticket. Even when I stray over the limit, which I like not to do, I’m usually well within Clancy MulDoon’s tolerance level. I guess I’m just not in a hurry. I consider driving right at the speed limit to be a sort of peace-of-mind thing. Also, since I get more of a macho feeling from high gas mileage than high speed, I’m acutely aware (my car has one of those instant gas-mileage indicators) how fuel consumption goes down with speed (and acceleration). Also, in general, I’m not a guy who gets thrills from speed. No roller coasters, etc.
What to do? How to help my fellow motorists stay calm while still being myself? Well, truly, it is their job to stay in a Zen-like state while driving. They should say to themselves, as I do, that there is no guarantee I’ll be happier somewhere else than I am right now. What I’m doing here is asking for suggestions. To the 4 or 5 people who read my blog, I appeal for knowledge.
2. I went to the bank yesterday. This would be Bank of America (the bank, I recently reported, which has started charging for change). It is rare that I’m actually in the bank, my Honey does most of that stuff. Last week I was there also. Twice in two weeks is extremely frequent attendance for me. Now that I think of it, I’ll go in chronological order. Last week, the teller, while handling my transaction (I was purchasing a cashier’s check) started inquiring of me whether I was interested in some new credit card the Bank of America apparently wanted me to have. I said I had plenty of credit cards. He continued, explaining the virtues of the credit card he, and the bank, were flogging. I repeated that I didn’t need any. I stayed chipper. I had waited in line maybe 5 minutes, and there were several folks waiting behind me. Okay, yesterday. The nice teller yesterday, as I made our monthly deposit (our manner of operation is that each month we put the funds necessary for monthly spending in our checking account, every month, in the same bank, in the same branch, on about the same day), had another spiel. She asked me (I am not making this up!) if I had plans for the money I was depositing. I said, “I beg your pardon?” She repeated herself. I said (as nicely as one can say this), “How is that your business, or the bank’s?” She started to give me her spiel about how they had other types of accounts, including investment accounts, blah, blah. Meanwhile, she was sliding my deposit receipt towards me. I took it promptly and said (while she was still talking), “Thanks for your input.” I walked away. She might have still been talking. Again, there were people waiting. The Bank of America now considers the teller stations to be a “point of sale.” (You know, now that I think of it, Borders Books tries to get folks into their customer club program even when bunches of people are lined up waiting to check out, even at Winter Solstice time).
Should I be nicer, listen to their pitch? All I want to do is transact my business and go away. I’ll take advice on this too.
P.S. Eventually, who knows how soon, when I say I went to the bank, I’ll just say The Bank, because, with all the mergers, there will be only one.
3. I’m generally more chipper today than I was yesterday. I’m going in a few minutes to my Honey’s store in Mt. Dora to do my Wednesday floor cleaning. I find that the product I’m using with the buffer leaves the floor slightly sticky (linoleum tile, or vinyl), and I have not figured out what alternative product to use. Stickiness attracts dirt (mostly from people’s shoes, of course), and the floor sometimes looks grubby not long after I clean it (and then looks that way all week). Any thoughts?
