Sunday
Drivers
By
Pamela Perry Blaine
©
April 30, 2005
There
used to be a term that was used to describe someone who
drove
their vehicles down the highway while gawking at the scenery.
These
drivers just drove slowly, taking their own sweet time,
as
if they had nothing to do and no place in particular to go.
Thus,
the expression, “Sunday Driver”, was born and it was
usually
uttered in a derogatory way. Consequently,
a Sunday driver
wasn’t
necessarily someone who was driving on a Sunday.
A
person could be a Sunday driver any day of the week.
The
expression simply meant that the person was an
obstacle
to other drivers who were in a hurry.
The
expression probably came about because there was a time
when
people would often decide to go for a leisurely drive
on
Sunday afternoons. A Sunday
drive was a common occurrence
years
ago and especially on a nice warm sunny day.
There were
no
stores open on Sunday because of the “blue laws” so you needed
to
be sure and fill up the gas tank and make any
other
needed purchases before Sunday arrived.
A
lot of states have abolished blue laws but for those who don’t
remember
that time, the blue laws regulated what could be bought
or
sold on Sundays. They began back in the early days of our country
and
were based on one of the ten commandments:
“Remember the sabbath day,
to
keep it holy.”
Some of the states had strict blue laws that even
prohibited
some activities on Sunday. The
name “Blue laws” probably
came
from the term “bluenose’ which referred to a person who was
very
rigid in their behavior. While
the Blue laws may have been too
restrictive
in some ways, there is still a lot to be said for the slow,
gentle
life that once existed where Sunday was set aside as a day
of
rest and worship instead of being “just another day” where people
had
an attitude of business as usual. It
was a time when very few
people
worked on Sunday except for those professions vital to
our
well being such as those in the medical profession.
It was a
day
“set apart” that was used to rest, visit with neighbors and friends,
or
maybe go to Grandma’s house for supper. Today there are many
who
return to work and children who go back to school overly
tired
on Monday due to a lack of rest. Perhaps
there would be less
stress
related illnesses if we really kept Sunday as a day of rest.
Many
families used to attend church on Sunday morning and then go
for
a drive and perhaps take a picnic lunch along.
They might stop
at
a park, a lake, or simply think it fun to take off down an old
country
road to see where it ended up and hope it didn’t
dead
end in someone’s driveway.
There
was a time when driving wasn’t quite as dangerous as it is now.
One
reason was that there weren’t as many cars and trucks on the highways.
At
least some things have improved as far as safety because the vehicles
that
we had when I was growing up had no seat belts.
The baby seats
that
they had then were not really created for safety as much as
they
were made so the child sat up high enough to see outside.
Sometimes
you would even see a child lying up on the back ledge between
the
back seat and the back window. The
only safety feature we had
was
Momma’s arm stretching out across you upon coming to a sudden stop.
This
is better known as Momma’s martial arts.
It is an unwritten,
inherited
law of all mothers because it doesn’t matter that you became
an
adult, you still get “the arm across the body” hold
if
you are next to a mother who is driving.
There
has always been a certain amount of impatience displayed
by
some drivers. Usually this
was exhibited by rolling down the window
and
yelling something like, “Sunday driver!”
Rolling down the window did
take
a little longer because there were no electric windows and you had
to
wind those windows up and down but maybe that gave a little extra time
to
calm down. So you see, road
rage is not a new thing at all.
As
the years went by, cars began to come equipped with new options.
I
remember the first time we had an automatic transmission and there
were
no gears to shift. Then
there were other things like power
steering
and power brakes. However,
the most exciting thing to me
as
a child was when we got a car with a radio.
I thought that was
a
big deal. For a youngster
it was kind of like that country song about
everything
being
wrong with the car but “there ain’t nothin’
wrong
with the radio.” That
was what was important to me.
Another
thing that we don’t see very often these days is arm signals.
No,
this has nothing to do with Momma’s martial arts “arm across the
body”
hold.
I’m not sure too many people even know them anymore unless
perhaps
those who ride a horse or a bicycle on the road.
Before vehicles
had
electronic turn signals, the driver used arm signals to tell others
when
they were turning or stopping.
These
days we have more traffic and more distractions.
We have
cell
phones, miniature televisions, CD and tape players, and fast food
to
nibble on and spill all over ourselves while we are driving.
Years
ago, there were not nearly as many distractions and
about
the only ones we had were energetic children and signs and billboards.
My
favorites were the little Burma Shave signs that were spaced
several
feet apart and as you drove you could read a little poem.
The
poems advertised their shaving cream but many of them
also
contained a good moral or safety tip.