The Mommy Driver

I learned to drive when I was 18; but I only drove a car by myself when I was already in law school. When I started driving by myself, I was a really careful driver. When I gained more confidence,  I started driving like a (delusional) Formula One driver wannabe. I even had some sort of personal speed record: 18-ish minutes from UP to our house in Cainta late in the evening (not bad, though my dad once took just 15 minutes to drive me to school; yeeesh).

Eventually though, when my enthusiasm for driving waned a bit, I started driving more patiently. I no longer changed lanes as much in order to overtake slow vehicles; I no longer treated the highways as if it were a maze, with the objective of trying to find the quickest route. In fact , I now reached a point where I am mostly on autopilot. Did you ever get the feeling, after alighting from your car, that you don’t remember how you got to your destination in the first place? Bingo.

Now, I still enjoy driving. But after experiencing driving while pregnant, and then driving with an infant in the backseat, I realized that I now drove like a grandma: slow and steady. No worries though; I actually enjoy the leisurely pace. At least I feel secure knowing that my baby is comfy in the backseat and that I am not taking unnecessary risks while he is traveling with me. In any event, I think that most people’s driving styles really evolve, and that most fast drivers will eventually settle down into more reaonable speeds.

Besides, with my current driving style, not only do I save on gas, I can now eat a cheeseburger and fries while driving a manual car. How’s that for multi-tasking? 🙂