November 2007 - Posts
I admit, I’m not a perfect driver. Actually, after talking with people at the Center Point Travel Plaza, I’m probably the cause of some peoples’ headaches.
But while I can acknowledge some of my own driving shortcomings -- I sometimes drive too fast, occasionally get too close and every now and then forget to dim my lights -- I could definitely relate to a lot of what these drivers were talking about when I asked them to name some of their pet peeves on the highways.
People who don’t use turn signals. Yep, they bother me, too. Drivers who pass only to slow down once they’re in front of me. Oh, yeah, those people really get to me. People who talk on their cell phones while driving. Uh-oh. They got me there.
I do talk on the phone while driving. Not a lot, but more than I know I should. What I don't do, though, is talk on the phone, adjust my stereo (because it's turned down so I can hear conversation), eat, apply makeup and drive all at the same time. Laugh if you will, but you know you've seen that person out there.
What truly annoys me are things that common courtesy would prevent. If you're approaching an off-ramp and there's a car trying to merge into traffic, and you have an open lane, let them merge. There is no checkered flag, no trophy and no cash prize if you keep other vehicles from getting onto the highway.
If you feel you really must pass me, please don't slow to a speed less than mine once you get in front of me. If you're going fast enough to be so close I can't see your license plate when you're behind me, don't force me to pull over for you just so you can slow down once I move. On the flip side, if you're driving slow enough in the fast lane that I'm getting too close to you, please pull to the slow lane and let me pass. You are not "teaching me a lesson" by making me and everyone behind me slow down.
And, as one driver in Center Point mentioned, if there's an emergency vehicle of any kind coming up behind you or approaching you with flashing lights, pull over. It's not only common courtesy, it's the law. If that vehicle were coming to the aid of your family, you wouldn't want them slowed down by a driver who couldn't be bothered.
I can't claim to be an expert on growing up in Iowa because, well, I didn't. I grew up 4,000 miles away in a place very different from the town I now call home. I can, though, talk about why I'm glad to be raising a family here. As the former youth reporter, I spoke with a lot of teens who couldn't wait to get out of dodge. Not that I can blame them. Remember? I moved 4,000 miles away from home. But, I did admire the exceptional few who realized what they had and spoke of at least returning to Iowa some day to raise their own family.
Some of the same reasons I chose to live her post-graduation are why I'm looking forward to raising my children here. They are also a lot of the same reasons people mentioned when I asked them Monday at the Iowa Children's Museum. While many were back in Iowa for the holiday and no longer live here, they spoke glowingly of their own childhoods. They mentioned the small town community feel, whether or not you live a small town. They also spoke of the safety of our towns and opportunities available to our youth.
Ditto, I say. When I first moved here I was struck by the fact that the stereotype of midwestern friendliness is more than true. I love that people say, "hi" on the street and smile as you pass in a grocery store aisle. The openess is refreshing. People are so downright nice. Now, I'm not naive enough to think that I don't have to talk to my children about stranger danger. But, I do know that more often than not someone else will be watching out for them. Iowans seem to really believe in that old saying "It takes a village." And I'm happy to be part of that village.
Mozambique. If I could go anywhere in the world, right now, that’s where I would go.
The eastern coast of Africa might not be the first dream destination to pop into most people’s minds, but for me, Mozambique evokes images of the warm, clear waters of the Indian Ocean and miles of palm-lined beaches. I spent a week in the fishing village of Vilanculos, about half-way up Mozambique’s long coast, while studying abroad in South Africa last year.
My fellow travelers and I befriended some local young men who invited us over for dinner one evening. By candlelight, they prepared fish they had caught that day, which they cooked over a fire in their backyard and served with fresh vegetables and rice. While we ate, they told us about the rap album they were planning to release in Maputo, Mozambique’s capital city. It was one of the most delicious dinners I’d ever had.
My semester in South Africa wasn’t free of interaction with poverty, but it was a far cry from the doom-and-gloom image of Africa that is often all we in the United States see.
That’s why it thrills me that more students than ever before are studying abroad. At the University of Iowa last year, 1,157 UI students studied abroad, a 4.9 percent increase from last year and a 10.2 percent increase from 2005-06 for undergraduates.
Travel, to anywhere in the world, is a chance to see other cultures with a deeper understanding than a sound-bite on the news can ever offer.
I truly admire the volunteers of Big Brothers Big Sisters.
I remember when I was kindergarten, looking up to the sixth grade student who was my “Reading Pal.” These older kids were paired with the school’s youngest to read together once a week. I saw my pal in the lunchroom and when she waved at me, I was so excited. I thought she was the coolest and the fact that she wanted to be my friend was even cooler.
An organization like Big Brothers Big Sisters, based on the premise that kids benefit by receiving attention and by finding a friend dedicated to making them feel special, is wonderful. Kids bask in such attention, like I did in kindergarten when my older friend waved at me. The “Bigs” as the Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteers are called, are not only positive role models for their “Littles,” but offer them the self-esteem and happiness that comes from knowing someone with no obligations to do so cares about them and wants to spend time with them.
Feeling loved like that? In my opinion, that’s the greatest feeling in the world.
Everyone does their best work at different times, as I discovered when
I hit up the coffee shops and cafes of downtown Cedar Rapids, asking
people their most productive time of day.
Personally, I have always been a night owl. I have been since when, as
a child, I stayed up after lights-out, reading by flashlight under my
covers.
College only increased my late night tendencies. I avoided classes
before 10 a.m. as much as possible and stayed up late. I often got my
best work done cramming sessions in the pre-dawn hours. With the rest
of the world slumbering, I could focus without distraction.
Now, however, I have graduated and joined the working world, and I am
trying to kick the habit of staying up past midnight. It hasn't been
easy. My two roommates are both college seniors, as are many of my
friends. When my roommates are drinking coffee and chatting in our
living room over their textbooks, I am heading off to bed. Often, my
still-in-school friends will invite me out for a weeknight drink or to
a late-night movie session. Do I say no, and wake well-rested the next
morning, or do I sacrifice a little bit of sleep for time with my
friends, whom I know will move on to a dozen cities after they graduate
in a few months? Many have already left, and I miss them. I don't want
to miss out on time with those who are still around. Plus, staying up
late seems to come naturally to me.
Will this change as I leave the world of college behind? Will necessity
force my internal clock to rework itself? I guess only time will tell.
For now, though, I still feel most productive at night.