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Authored by: Anonymous on Sunday, May 12 2013 @ 07:39 PM EDT |
Well, I do know. Pavement (English) == sidewalk (American).
But in my mind the joke about "driving on the pavement" brings up
something related which is not a joke, at all. Driving on the left. The problem
is, it isn't exactly enough to read a book or a manual about a thing like that,
or to have seen it on TV or in a James Bond movie.
In fact, a strong reason which makes me hesitate to visit the British Isles
again (or for that matter Australia or New Zealand, which I think would both be
very interesting places to visit) is that I have to drive on the other side of
the road. I have plenty of experience driving a car. I am well past the follies
of youth and the accompanying inability to assess risk. Unfortunately, in this
kind of situation experience does not help at all, but actually increases the
dangers. The more experienced a driver is, the more aspects of driving become
hard-wired and recede from the realm of conscious thought and decision-making
down into the level of unconscious reactions, almost at the level of reflex.
Normally, this is a very good thing. It enhances the speed with which we react.
But when one has to drive on the "wrong" side of the road all of those
almost reflexive reactions have suddenly become completely wrong. As in
getcha-killed type of wrong.
Actually, this drive-on-the-left thing isn't funny at all.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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