Riding in a car without seat belts

We regret that an intended posting indicating that the blog would take a little holiday was never actually posted. We hope the break invigorated you and made you eager for Slightly Humorous 2012, although probably this is just wishful thinking.


We have returned from visiting relatives in the Great Frigid North, where it turned out not to be so frigid. At the end of our trip, as we were repacking to come home, the Hero smugly pointed out that once again I had overpacked while HE had not. There ensued a discussion on the definition of overpacking. I did not consider an extra seventeen sweaters to constitute overpacking; it was merely prudent to be prepared in the event that, say, an Ice Age suddenly occurred during our holiday visit.


The warmish weather meant that there was no riding in one-horse open sleighs during our trip. We made up for this, however -- due to one family member's car being in the shop -- by squeezing six adults into one car everywhere we went, ensuring many times of togetherness. It also ensured many times of illegal travel without seat belts. This did not seem to greatly concern most of the four in the back seat, as we had greater worries, such as being able to breathe.


Not wearing seat belts seemed to bother only me, which may have had something to do with the numerous safety videos I was forced to view, for my own good, back in driver's ed class. In these videos, cars with crash dummies were smashed at high speeds into immovable barriers such as cement walls. The dummies who were not wearing seat belts were all pulverized, while the ones who had been wearing seat belts walked away from each crash, laughing at the fate of the other poor stupids.


I was traumatized by these videos, by the sight of all those crash dummy parts flying around the smashed-up car. I now zealously put on my seat belt when getting in any vehicle, and have undertaken various personal crusades to warn others of the dangers of neglecting this practice, including yelling at careless individuals on TV. I am nervous while riding in vehicles that lack seat belts, and have even been known to try to fashion one in these situations from materials at hand, such as the neckties of passengers next to me on the train.


But back to our trip. When we returned, the temperature continued to rise for several days, until finally nature got confused and started bursting out all over. We noticed with some dismay that our neighbors, too, were confused, and instead of spending time being lazy indoors, were outside attending to nature.



The Hero and I, feeling like we, too, should be outdoors -- but not wanting it to involve anything industrious -- finally settled on walking to the nearby coffee shop later in the afternoon.


Whereupon I promptly fell asleep for a couple of hours, and when awakened by the Hero we both noted that it was not sunny anymore, and decided that it was probably getting cold, and we declared ourselves off the hook for any required outdoor enjoyment.


And now, just a few days later, the temperature has plummeted, and we are in the Great Frigid East. Which makes us happy, as long as we get to stay inside. And buckle up on the couch.