Cars Reveal Much About Their Owners
By Sharron Stockhausen,
MMA
A couple of good friends invited me to attend one of those intensive
self-awareness, self-improvement programs a year or so ago. They had
gone and said their lives were changed for the better. I was intrigued,
so I went. I learned something about me and what I notice around me. By
definition, writers are observers of life who leave written records of
what they observe. As a writer I’ve often been amused by what I see. But
it wasn’t until I attended that self-improvement program that I began to
notice what I notice.
For instance,
I notice vanity license plates and try to decipher what the owner is trying
to tell the world about themselves. I know people pay extra for those
plates, so I’m quite sure they use them to make some sort of statement. But
I must admit some of their messages escape me.
I notice
bumper stickers. Some show defiance for society, some show pride in work (as
in being a union member), and some show which political candidate the car
owner supports. I saw one the other day that said, “Proud parent of a
(school’s name) honor student.” At first glance it appears this is a benign
bumper sticker. But as I thought more about it, I wondered if every parent
should have a bumper sticker that simply says, “Proud parent.” That would
show our children that we love them and are proud of them simply because
they exist instead of because they’ve done something we can be proud of. I
don’t think that undermines the human spirit’s desire to do things. It just
allows us acceptance for being rather than for doing.
Another thing
I notice is how poorly we speak the English language. In fact, we’re so bad
at it that the powers that be eventually incorporate our errors into
acceptability because it’s easier than correcting us. People who earn their
living talking (news anchors, radio personalities, even professional
speakers) constantly use the word “hopefully” wrong. They say things like
“Hopefully there won’t be any blizzards this winter.” or “Hopefully, gas
prices will go down.”
Hopefully
means “in a hopeful manner.” I can be hopeful. You can be hopeful. But in
the example sentences, who’s hopeful? I know I’m being picky about this, but
it’s so blatant that when I do hear someone correctly say something like, “I
am hopeful there won’t be any blizzards this winter.” or “We are hopeful gas
prices will go down.” I get excited.
I also notice
people make up words. The primary one that comes to mind is irregardless.
We’ve heard it so much that I suspect it will be in a dictionary one day
soon, much as “ain’t” made it into Webster’s a few years back.
I notice I’m
getting older. I’m having a harder time finding music I like on the radio
than I used to. I also have a few more aches and pains than in years past. I
also have more confidence in me and my abilities, less stress from peers
about fitting, and more autonomy than I did when my children weren’t adults.
I notice that
my husband, who never notices the garbage needs to be taken out, notices
every deer on the horizon at dusk when we’re out driving.
What do you
notice? When you first meet someone do you notice their eyes? their hair?
their body style? their clothes?
When you
enter someone’s home what do you notice? their furniture? their carpet?
their clutter? I know one woman who makes it a point to use the bathroom
because that’s the one place she can be alone to inspect cleanliness.
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