Monday, December 17, 2007

Empty Seats


I drive in my car by myself a lot. I’m guessing 90% of my driving around is in a car by myself. That is incredible inefficient. I imagine if we all carpooled or just relied on public transportation more than the world would be a much more healthy place.

One thing (of many) I miss about Scotland is the public transportation. For one thing it wasn’t that convient. Walking to a bus stop and waiting for the driver to fight through traffic was not ideal. But that is the point. We are so use to personal convenience and a customized lifestyle that we shriek at the idea of something like carpooling.

Owning a vehicle, or having a vehicle, means that we can come and go as we please. What public transportation/ carpooling does is make us accountablie to and reliable on other people. Unless I could bike or walk to my destination in Scotland I always relied on other people. Many times the buses didn’t go to my intended destination so I relied on other people's genorosity. When you come to rely on others you recognize how helpless and meager we are without others. It comes back to community.

1 comment:

Adam said...

here here. I've really enjoyed riding with other people for the last three weeks since I broke my collar bone. I'm surprised at how uninconvenient it's been. I thought it would be frustrating, but it's been a lot easier than I expected. I recommend it.