Firsts

There are some “firsts” which people love and hope will be the first in a long line. Like your first real paycheck. Other “firsts” are special because they may not – and should not – happen again. Your wedding day, for instance. Other firsts you may never want to encounter again – like your first funeral. Unfortunately, my “first” this weekend falls into the last category – my first accident (where I was the driver).

The only time I have been involved in an accident before was at Converse when Wendy, my sister and I were driving to the mountains. Wendy was the driver at the time and the car was totaled. No one was seriously hurt, however. This Friday night, however, I was the driver – no one was seriously hurt that I know of. This is how it happened.

This was the first day it snowed in Lancaster since we have been here. We woke to a white blanket. I dropped Gregg off at the train station, got home, changed, drove to work, came back, picked Giggs up to take him to the vet and then drove home again. Then at 6pm, I set off to pick Gregg up. It had been snowing all day but now the sun had gone down and the snow had turned to ice. When I drove up to the bridge I regularly cross, I saw up ahead 2 cars at the side of the road which had obviously been in an accident. Then suddenly the car in front of me skidded and rotated (eventually hitting the car in front of him). I hit my brakes to stop but the ice gave no traction and the car just kept going. So, I ended up hitting one of the cars pulled off to the side of the road (one of the ones already in an accident).

Thankfully, no one was hurt. I have mild bruises and a pain in the neck (literally) and it hurts when I laugh but that’s it. Our car, however, is in very bad shape – we have to wait till we know if it is salvageable. Now the only remnant is fear – I am terrified of driving in snow – or rather ice – again.

On the bright side, the rental car we have is awesome. It is a Buick with heated leather seats, XM radio and even heat for the steering wheel. Awesome!!!!

Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone – and drive safely.

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IN OTHER NEWS:

Work: Only one more full week of classes left. Cannot wait.

Thanksgiving: I made a turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing etc on Saturday. It was a nice way to forget the accident. We are going to CT for Thanksgiving but with the end of the semester almost here, we will stay only a short time. Have to prep for the last week, write exams, write study guides, grade papers etc.

NPSA: Went well. More on that later.

Giggs: He is now 9.8 pounds and almost a year old.

LOST!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, now that I have your attention, I want to issue a spoiler alert: this post is not about the show. Nothing in my life is as dramatic as that show (which I have never seen) about a plane crash (thank goodness for that)!!!!! I thought I would write this after I got lost a couple of days ago.

I can navigate. I can drive. But I cannot navigate while driving. I am too busy watching the road to watch for the next turn or to look at street signs etc. Well, I have been taking the highway to drop Gregg off at the train station but getting to the highway is very exhausting. It is a one lane road with backed up traffic at all times. It takes me 15 minutes to simply get to and from the highway. So, Gregg found a new route which takes about 20 minutes all the way to the station and back. The problem was that I had to drive back by myself. This is the conversation Gregg and I had on the way to the station:

Gregg: “On the way back, simply take a left at the light and then another left. Then go straight.”
Nitu: “Where do I take the second left?”
Gregg: “At the first light after the first left.”
Nitu: “Wait, what? I am confused! Left, light, left!! Not left, right, left! Ok got it!!!”
Gregg: “It is so easy even you cannot get lost.”

15 minutes later I was calling Gregg. I was lost and needed directions to get back home. But this incident showed me how much I have grown as a driver. The first time I got lost, I kept driving and then called Gregg almost in tears. I had no idea where I was, not even a street name. It was difficult for Gregg to give me directions under the circumstances and I was extremely nervous till I was on a road I recognized again.

This time when I got lost I calmly noted the fact, figured out where I was, pulled into a deserted parking lot, parked, called Gregg, got return directions and followed them to the “t” till I got home. No crying, no nervousness!!! In fact, I was laughing about our earlier conversation.

I am not a seasoned driver yet but certainly my temperament is improving. Does this not show an immense growth on my part? What do you do when you are lost?

The Relevance of Aristotle

Have you ever started reading something and then seen how EVERYTHING applies to what the writer is saying? I frequently have this experience and usually discount it as my overactive imagination. But I have been reading Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics recently and I am amazed at how observant Aristotle is (and how hard it is to convince my students of this). This is what Aristotle says about skills:

“Virtues…we acquire by first exercising them. The same is true with skills, since what we need to learn before doing, we learn by doing; for example, we become builders by building, and lyre-players by playing the lyre.” (Nicomachean Ethics, 23, Cambridge edition)

And this statement applies so directly to my life. In the past month, I have been doing a ton of driving. I drive Gregg back and forth from the train station, I run errands, I go to school and back. In the process, I have had to master my fears about a number of different driving conditions: driving on the highway, driving at night, driving in the rain, driving after the rain, driving with cars on the road (just kidding), parking!!!! The reason is that you learn by doing, and I am learning driving by driving. However dangerous this sounds (for other drivers as well as for me), it is nevertheless true.

Having said that, which professions would you think would not/should not fall into this category? How about surgery?
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To-Do List:

Class Preps: Doing two and a half class preps this semester has been difficult and time-consuming. I changed some aspects of my Intro to American Government class and that is my half prep. The full preps are for Intro to Political Theory and American Political Thought

Grading: I have 120 students this semester and just gave 60 of them their first test. Promises to be a fun grading weekend.

NPSA: Gregg and I are both going to Northeastern Political Science Association’s November conference. I have to write a draft of a chapter for it – which has not been started yet.

Are Cars Made for Men?

Now anyone who knows me knows that I rarely attribute all the things wrong in my life to men. However, this weekend while driving to Lancaster, this question occurred to me: are cars made for men? All of you must have heard the stereotype of the bad woman driver. What if there is a scientific reason for that?

I find that when a traffic light changes from red to green, I go a split second later than other cars. I also do not get up to speed very fast. And I drive much better with a certain pair of shoes than with others. Then it occurred to me: I do all these things because I lift my foot off the gas to apply the brake and vice-versa. Gregg never has to do that: he simply swivels his foot from gas to brake and back. But in spite of having exceptionally large feet as evidenced by my size 8 ½ shoes, I cannot get enough traction by simply swiveling from one to the other.

Is this a problem for other women or am I just a horrible driver?
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Things I Learnt About Myself on My Drive:

1) I HATE following someone – in this case, it was Gregg driving a U-Haul with our second car trailing it. I feel like I have to watch that car and everything around me at the same time
2) I do not know how to make a 3-point turn – mine was a 4.5 turn. Back up, turn, back up, turn, back…turn now.
3) I LOVE listening to music while driving. I tend to get happy and sad according to what I am listening to.
4) I do not like people passing me too much – do it enough and I will cut people off.