Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Backing Up

I have a confession to make. I have some weird little idiosyncrasies associated with driving.

One has to do with the seat belt warning noise. I grew up in the pre-required seat belt era, and we slid all over the seats as our family station wagon trekked across country from military assignment to military assignment. By the time I learned to drive most cars had buzzers that told us to "BUCKLE UP." The buzzers were obnoxious and I wanted to be a good little 'rules compliant' driver so I clicked every time. When my kids came along, the warning tones were less obnoxious, but I was so habituated to it that I just did it automatically and made them do so as well. And if I left it off for a moment so I could finish doing something with one hand and drive with the other, I didn't get very far down the street before a child yelled, "Mom! Seat belt!"

But there is one time when, no matter how polite the warning tone is, I refuse to buckle. That is when I am backing out of my driveway. I live in the bottom of a slight hollow and the driveway rises to the street. The street is a cul-de-sac and we're in the base of it, so the small children in my neighborhood go running across there without a lot of situational awareness.

I get in, use my left foot pushing against the floorboard to hike me up a little in my seat. I swivel my body around to the right and put my right arm on the passenger seat. Then I swivel my body further so I can turn my head around and see up the drive. I imagine I'm like an owl swiveling its neck around to see what is behind it. Then I put my right foot on the gas and head up the drive.

And that stupid little dinger goes on and on. Because the car is a hybrid the noise is disproportionately loud. It rings incessantly, ranting at me, "YOU HAVEN'T BUCKLED UP YET!"

So today I did something dumb. I stopped, and automatically reached over and turned the radio button down. To stifle the noise. It didn't work. What was I thinking?

Sigh.


3 comments:

Charlene Amsden said...

My seatbelt comes off when I have to reverse, too. I think I'd rather be killed, then kill someone else because I couldn't see them. And that noise makes me nut. I never thought of turning the radio down though. But I'll probably try it now that you've stuck the silly suggestion in my head. LOL!

Anonymous said...

LOL to funny. They are annoying i will admit. Bit I buckle up always first thing. Only time I refuse to wear a seat belt is when I'm in the back seat. Now that's dumb. LOL

SouthLakesMom said...

But Thom, you drive for a living! Isn't that a law that you can't sit in the driver's seat w/o the belt? And you have that seat that's way up high . . . of course, I'm not sure you could get your bus into my driveway, much less out of it! Yikes! Lowhanging trees with lots of acorns!