We aren’t just a family of college graduates. Every last one of us has a traffic school degree as well. Some (unfortunately) have multiple drive-more-safely degrees!This is not an accomplishment we should be proud of. Apparently, I need to debunk the status we give to the word “speed” around here. Somehow we missed passing along the “there’s a time and a place” addendum to the word.
Just to be clear, speed is not an inherently good thing. It might win a race on foot but can earn a hefty fine by car. This disconnect hit me when Paige mentioned via phone she was doing her mandated traffic school (for driving too fast in the OC) and a couple hours later emailed it was already completed. Without thinking I congratulated her on her speedy work, forgetting that it was her speedy work behind the wheel that landed her in traffic school in the first place.
Ironically, I was praising speed, albeit for educational endeavors of sorts (well, it is called traffic SCHOOL), but still, it’s a bit of a mixed message. Hurry, hurry hurry. We rush around to speed through this and that, and then forget to slow down when our foot hits the gas pedal!
So, after my kudos to Paige on her speedy finish with the traffic school assignments, I did remind her to watch her speed on the road. And, one serious follow up to that (to all family members - listen up!): No texting while driving! No exceptions!
