And the Pope Says "Thou Shalt Drive..."

This is summer. Summer tends to give us more time behind the wheel...time behind the wheel on the road with the sweaty, unwashed masses (but not us, of course). Those of us who travel for a living, either between cities or between appointments, can attest to the fact that people are getting a little more (choosing words carefully here) aggressive.


I saw one man get flipped off and almost ran off the road laughing. The chick with the finger was sporting one of the spanking new "In God We Trust" license plates on her rage-mobile (still laughing just thinking about it).


So, now Il Papa (the Pope, for those of you who don't know the two words of Italian I know) has waded into the fray with a 36 page document put together by a blue-ribbon papal panel. In it, they say things like:

• Make the sign of the Cross before you travel and pray while on the road (not bad advise if you drive in Boston, LA or Atlanta!)


• Thou shalt not drink and drive


• Thou shalt not make rude gestures behind the steering wheel

The document goes on to remind us that driving can bring out our most "primitive" nature and we can get caught up in our vehicles as vanity-stroking, status-announcing ego machines.

Still, we get ourselves wound up tight before we even get to our important meeting--so much so, that it steals our calm and focus. Me? I know that late afternoon drives on the north/northeast side of town may be somewhat, um, troubling, and plan accordingly. It's so much easier not to be an ass (let someone in it you can see an exit coming up and they're trying to get over) if we leave early.

Watch the BBC report. Something to consider!