Cars: The Magnifying Glasses of our Soul

I don’t know much about cars.  I know some cars are more attractive than other cars. I know I like cars that don’t cost me a lot of money, and don't break down.  I like it when their blinkers blink and their radios sing to me.  I like it when I can roll down the windows and open the doors without a lot of hassle.  I’m not passionate about their color, their shiny inside enginey parts, or their names.  There is something about cars, though.  It doesn’t matter what the car looks like, the effect of a person being inside that thing is the same.  Our flaws are super-sized. Cars are the magnifying glasses into our souls.

I am a car, and I am magnifying your soul.

Automobiles are magical.  Bad things get much bigger inside of the vehicle.  Consider:  If you have a bad sense of direction, lets put you in a car, and you will be lost forever.  If you pick your nose ever, even a little, you will for sure pick it in your car.  If you say bad words, even in your brain, you are going to swear while driving. If you are cranky at your kids, watch out, that universal magnifiers is going to create a hot mess inside the vehicle. It works for anger, too. If we tend have a little angry inside ofus, the car magnifies it, and it emerges when we are driving.

Who knew a car that looked so good could make me look so bad?

I am not immune to the magnifying glass of the automobile. Instead of road raging, I happen to turn into a judgmental control demon.  “Use your blinker, minivan.”  “Why is that red car driving so fast? Is that guy really so much important than everyone else on the road?” “The speed limit is 35, Hummer.”  “Why are you getting mad at everyone, crazy truck?”  I don’t usually get angry.  I get other things instead.

Some people do get angry.  Those people who yell, scream, shout cussy words at other cars.  Ragers make me feel weird.  Can’t we all just get along?  I think they would tell me no.  And then flip me off.  And then tail me for awhile just to make their point. I would proceed to judge them harshly for their obvious character flaw.  There are a lot of closeted angry people in the world. You would never ever do the things you do driving while pushing a grocery cart.  Could you imagine?  “You are pushing your cart so slow old lady?  Get your canned grapefruit and get out of my way.  And here are some vulgarities for you to remember me by.”  It is different when we are actually looking at the person.

Me and my hiking buddy.

I think we should drive like we hike- as fellow adventurous in the world, enjoying the journey.  A little less focus on the destination, and a little more laughter on the trail.  I could stop analyzing and judging the flaws of other travelers.  They could stop getting so mad at me for sharing the road with them. Maybe in traveling this way, the universal magnifying glass of the automobile would accentuate our remarkableness.  And, the road would be a little kinder to us all, no matter what car we are driving.