A Little Experiment

I decided yesterday that I was going to try a little experiment: I was going to try to drive the speed limit for a whole week. QUITE the task for me, let me tell you! I told a friend about my plan and she gave me two days before I caved and my heavy foot took over again. I wondered why she even gave me that long!

Anyway, I started my little experiment on my way home from school yesterday. That’s when I realized just how hard it was going to be. I gallantly tried to stay at 55, made a very concerted effort to do so, but if I let my eyes leave the speedometer for more than 10 seconds my speed would invariably go up to 60. It was horrible. So then I decided that I’d just have to set my cruise control. Normally I avoid using cruise control while driving around the Cities because speeds tend to be rather erratic and I’d have to break so much, but I realized that, at 55 mph, you never have to break because absolutely everybody is going faster than you are. Cruise control actually works in city driving if you go 55! Anyway, I made it home from school only a little worse for wear, wondering how in the world anybody could possibly drive so slowly!

This morning, however, I realized the first error of bad planning when it came to my little experiment. Apparently I time my mornings around the idea that I can speed for at least part of my way to work. If I allowed myself to go the speed limit at the times where traffic was moving I would probably be at least 10 minutes late to work! So, I basically lasted one commute home on a weekend in my first try. I figure, however, that once I work out the logistics – such as making sure I wake up earlier each morning, which really could be an experiment in itself – I can start the whole plan over again. I’m also going to try to put the kibosh on my lame attempt to get around my speed-limit test that would enable me to drive over the speed limit without technically breaking the rules. That’s right, not only did I not last more than one drive, I had also already worked out a plan that would let me speed guilt-free: I could speed if traffic was generally going faster than I was in order to not hold anybody up. Aren’t I pathetic? Man, I really DO have a speeding problem. Maybe that’s why I’ve had a tingly feeling in the back of my neck lately that I’m due to get a speeding ticket…