It's about a twelve hour drive across Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and finally the Louisville metro area, so I drove and listened to podcasts. Specifically the humanist hour, the American atheist, and the Joe Rogan experience (side note; listen to this dude. He's very intelligent and well-reasoned). I also spent a lot of time thinking.
My path all the way to St. Louis was pretty much paralleling, and occasionally intersecting with, U.S. Route 66. It made me think about those times past when Rt. 66 was the mother road of lore. How things have changed. It made me ponder just how different the world will be for my kids than it was for me. I came up with this list:
- Technology- Big shocker here. "He mentioned technology..what a fresh take." Yeah, yeah, I get it but it's so true. The big technological advances of my days put video games in our hands, but it was the "Coleco Bowl". Just a bunch of red dashes that moved. AND I WAS THRILLED BY IT!! My kids have Ipod's, and Nintendo DS's. Sometimes I bring my Nook and they can play games on that or (heaven forbid) read. Failing that I have an in-car DVD and they can watch what they want all the way to wherever we go. And to think; I remember it being so cool to have a freaking Walkman so I didn't have to listen to dear old dads' favorite radio station; K-OLD!
- Safety- this is a big one. Just think of all the advances in safety there are today; 3-D surround sound airbags, crumple zones in cars, and such highly advanced child safety seats (my youngest daughter's has reading lights)! My kids will never know what it was like to ride in the comfort that was my dad's 78 Chevy conversion van. Powder blue with a dark blue stripe on it. It had two swiveling chairs in the middle and a big ol' fold down bed in back. There was even a table with drink holders in it. We drove across the country in that thing, and I don't think anything behind the "captain's" chair had anything resembling a restraint device. My brother and I logged many a mile racked out on that fold down bed. Sure, the occasional bump in the road made us lose contact with the mattress, but I don't think we ever hit our heads on that roof.
- Speed- I'm still old enough to remember when the nation wide speed limit was 55 MPH. I believe that was imposed at the behest of Jimmy Carter. Sure, state's didn't have to adopt it, but it sure made it easier to get any kind of federal highway funding. I'm a believer in climate change, and conservation, which I'm sure was the intention of this law. I happen to like President Carter and the things he has done in his retirement. This was a bad one and rightfully changed. As far as the safety argument goes, I get it and it's a valid point. But we can't out-legislate stupidity. Cars and roads are so much safer than they were in the 70's and 80's. During my trip I found the most frustration driving through Illinois with it's 65MPH speed. This one may come back, but I hope my kids never get to see it.
- Cell Phones- yeah, I know...could have covered this under "technology" but I think it deserves a mention all it's own. My daughter's will never remember a world in which texting did not exist. They will barely remember a world in which the Internet was not reachable via your phone. It is truly amazing to think about. You are able to stay in touch with loved ones while you are barrelling down the road, no need to stop and find a pay phone. You can find out about an historical landmark you just passed, or who a section of highway was named after. I used mine to find an obscure street in Mt. Vernon, KY and it took me right to it!
I don't want to be to coy or trite about it all, but we truly do live in amazing times. I know more about Canada now because I watch the Rick Mercer Report from the CBC on YouTube. I found out about some really cool Australian bands, that get no radio play here, from chatting with people from Oz on the Internet. Everyone's on it and you can find almost anything or anyone all from the comfort of wherever your mobile phone happens to be.
And BTW: Just found out today about the death of my former uncle "Rapid" Robert Seifert. He was married to my mom's sister and lived in Joppa, MD. I hadn't heard anything from Bob, except through the grapevine, in probably 30 years. He and my aunt divorced some 20 plus years ago. Still I always had a fondness for him. He raced funny cars and to 10-year old me, that was the coolest thing in the world. I still remember him giving me several 8X10 publicity photos for him and other racers in Maryland. I'm sure he's not in any record books, he was no John Force by any stretch, but I was still a little sad to hear of his passing. RIP Rapid Robert.
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