I notice the vehicles around the Salt Lake City airport pick-up area and think,
"Oh foreign cars, how I miss ye: Hondas and Acuras and Toyotas and Nissans and Volkswagens and Audis and Subarus and Kias and Hyundais. How I miss ye."
Then I'd look (again shocking because I never saw much of this before. Again, it's all relative) at the racial diversity and say, "Oh Hispanics and Asians and Pacific Islanders and Native Americans -- how I miss ye."
(I don't include blacks. Not because I'm a racist but because there are more blacks in these parts than in Utah, percentage wise, but that's an entirely different story...)
***
Three weeks ago I was driving on Interstate 90 outside of Rapid City. Someone was tailing me close.
It was an unusual feeling -- being the one under pressure for driving slowly -- because normally I'm the impatient one on Wyoming roads.
Wyomingites seem to have an internal speedometer that prohibits drivers from exceeding 32 mph. They don't frequently get on the freeway because there isn't exactly urban sprawl around here. Speed limits within the city don't exceed 30 mph and I would exalt the heavens if people would live on the wild side and gun it at 35 mph.
I don't understand the slow-driving mentality: Maybe it's because half of Gillette drives gas-guzzling pickups and can't afford the gas. My dad, who grew up on a Minnesota farm, says it's the rancher mentality -- slow and stubborn if other drivers get too close.
***
On I-90 outside of Rapid, I was driving 65-70 mph when the vehicle was tailing me. Finally it passed. It was a mother, with two or three children in the back seat.
She turned her head and glared at me. Another act I haven't seen for a long time. (Unless I initiate it in Gillette.)
A feeling of joy lept in my heart. And I said,
"Oh racial tension, how I miss ye!"
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