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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jacques Chitte who wrote (39521)	6/7/1999 6:28:00 PM
From: Bob Lao-Tse	Respond to of 108807

Balance: I didn't go into this specifically, mostly because my name is not accidental. I picked "Bob Lao-Tse" to express both my respect for Taoism (Lao-Tse) and my middle-class white upbringing (Bob). I took the Yin/Yang of Taoism as my personal symbol years ago, but while I admire the beliefs and respect the observations of Taoism, I fall far short of the mark, so I try not to push it too hard. I express a lot of the same things that the Taoists do, but since I'm really not one of them I try to do it in my own words. Like you, I generally prefer the word "balance," and to be perfectly honest used the word "moderation" in my post partly because it's a Christian concept and thus more familiar to Americans, but mostly because I liked the rhythm of it. I agree with you about the future and the need for optimism. This unfortunately doesn't stop my pessimism, but it does at least make me aware of it, and causes me to try to limit it. It is certainly true that if enough people decide that the future is a lost cause, then it really doesn't matter whether it actually is or not. About driving: I try to keep track of what the car in front of the car in front of me is doing. As you implied, fast drivers are not necessarily the problem. As a matter of fact, especially during rush hour, slow drivers are more often the problem. The key is to do whatever is necessary or advantageous for your own commute in such a way that it doesn't unnecessarily impede that of others. On my own commute, there's a point where the first highway I drive on merges onto a larger elevated controlled access highway. There's a light at the bottom of the on-ramp, and at that point there are two lanes that go through to the ramp. However, the right lane ends before the end of the ramp, so it is almost useless. Most of the commuters, being old hands at this, simply get in the left-most of these two lanes at the light and go up the ramp in single file. There are usually people who aren't familiar with it and end up in the right lane, but they tend to cooperate with those beside them and aren't really a problem. But there are also people (generally in SUV's, but that's another subject) who deliberately get over in that right lane to try to gain an advantage. If they reach the light too soon, they have to sit and they end up drag-racing the people in the left lane, and if they get to the light too late they have to wedge their way into the left lane. I refuse to do either. But there have been a few magical times when I've been approaching that light and I can see that there's nobody in the right lane, and I can also see that the light's set to change any moment. At those times I can jump over into the right lane, slow down just enough, catch the light just as it changes, and be halfway up the ramp before the left lane even starts moving. This is no hardship for anyone, and I believe that I've actually aided the flow of traffic by not adding to the congestion in the left lane. And besides, it's a great rush! -BLT