Days of Yore: Transportation

Once upon a time, a young child with ADHD (who didn't know at the time that he had ADHD) was sitting in the car looking out the window singing, "Old McDonald had a - FORD!"

Yep. Some kids interrupt themselves to yell, "Squirrel!" I interrupted myself when I saw a billboard advertising Ford cars, as well as any time I saw an airplane or helicopter in the sky. (Certain birds, such as eagles and robins, as well as cows and llamas, have also elicited such a reaction out of me on occasion.) I got very excited about any cars, and I'm told I could identify the make and model of a car from a long way away. I often cut pictures of cars out of magazines to put in scrapbooks. I had a relatively large collection of matchbox cars. When I visited my great grandma when I was little, my favorite part of her apartment was the closet where she kept her toys, which included cars. After her memorial in 1983, our family went to her place to split up her belongings. I made a beeline to her toy box and claimed the toy cars. As I got older, I collected models and other representations of Philippine jeepneys. My dad and I liked to assemble models of cars, planes and other vehicles. I also loved playing with Transformers, which were usually toy cars, trucks or planes that converted into robots.

Jeepney in Cebu, Philippines
Photo by Øyvind Holmstad
CC BY-SA 4.0 license

The Philippines had several different kinds of transportation.

• Jeepneys were adapted from World War 2 jeeps. The picture above is an example of one. They were elongated, and behind the driver's seat, there are two benches going from front to back on either side. It's a common form of public transportation, and people often crowded them. Riders would bang on the ceiling when they wanted to get off. Generally, jeepneys are privately owned, and the owners take pride in decorating them in bright, artistic colors. They often list the destinations where they go on the sides.
• Our mission agency had a Toyota Tamaraw. A tamaraw (the animal) is similar to a water buffalo (carabao), but smaller and wilder, and the horns are a bit different. They live on the island of Mindoro, Philippines. The automotive version was very similar to a jeepney in setup, but with aspects of a van. They had plastic on the windows that rolled up, so on nice days they could be rolled up and open to the air, and rolled down and secured on rainy days. (I think newer models have changed since we lived there, but that's how they were at the time.)
• Tricycles were common in neighborhoods. They involved a motorcycle with a sidecar. Sometimes the sidecar was decorated, and it sometimes had a roof. People often decorate their tricycles similarly to the way they decorate their jeepneys. The sidecar generally has a capacity of one or two people, but that didn't stop people from crowding more onto them on occasion. In Thailand, they had a similar vehicle called a tuk-tuk, which is kind of like a cross between a motorcycle, rickshaw and golf cart. Both tricycles and tuk-tuks have three wheels, counting the motorcycle.
• Since the Philippines is an archipelago, they traveled between islands using planes and boats.
• Bangkas are rowboats with wide pontoons going out on either side. They are common for taking people out on the water, going between smaller islands, snorkeling and fishing. 
• Glass-bottom boats are particularly common around the coral reefs. There are benches around the perimeter, and the middle has a glass bottom, so riders can look down and see the awesome beauty of the colorful reefs, coral and fish, among other sea life. They often had a place in the back where you could jump off to go snorkeling.
• Calesas were common in the older districts in Manila. They are the Philippine version of horse-drawn carriages, with massive wheels on either side, and decorated similarly to jeepneys and tricycles. (Since the Philippines doesn't get snow, the annual Nutcracker ballet used calesas instead of sleighs. There were a lot of other things they did with the set, props and costumes to make it more relatable to Filipinos, while leaving the music and ballet itself intact.)
• They also had transportation more normal to the average American, such as cars and buses, as well as airplanes and helicopters.

Airplanes have changed a lot over the years. The changes that immediately come to mind are that they no longer have phones on the backs of the seats in first class, and the meals they serve (if they serve any at all) have gotten a lot smaller. I've noticed in recent years, they sometimes charge for meals separately from the price of taking the plane. If I remember right, meals used to be included in airfare. Also, planes often have in-flight wifi now. They sometimes had a screen in the front of the cabin to watch movies, and you would plug headphones into the armrests in the seats to listen. Then they started having screens in the seat backs and the ceilings. Now many planes no longer have screens, but have options for watching on your phone or device after logging into their network on wifi. Devices generally need to be turned off or put in airplane mode during ascent and descent, though.

I took the train in Thailand, as well as in different parts of the US. I also took the train from London to Paris (part of the journey under the English Channel) and back. Trains have changed during my lifetime, but as my train experience has been much more limited than other forms of transportation, I haven't had as much chance to observe those changes. 

While Seattle doesn't have a subway, I have taken the subways in Paris, London ("Mind the gap!") and New York. I've also taken the El (elevated train) in Chicago. Seattle does have a monorail, and the extensive light rail system is under construction. The completed parts of it are in use.

Cars have done away with the ashtrays that used to be standard. They have also gotten a lot smaller, on the whole. 8-track players in cars gave way to cassette players, which were replaced by CD players. Now many cars don't even have those any more, but there is usually an option for playing streaming radio, such as SiriusXM. Now you can roll the window down in the car by pressing a button, and the driver usually has the option of locking the windows. When I was younger, there was a crank on each door to roll the window down. That crank liked to get stuck sometimes, and good luck rolling the window up when it's rainy if the crank is stuck! It sometimes took a lot of muscle to roll the window up and down. When I was little, I thought cars with seatbelts in the back were cool. Most only had them in the front, if they were even there. In cars with seatbelts in the back, we often had to go digging under the seat for them because they had a tendency of retreating into the inner recesses of the car. Now they are standard in all cars, and required wearing by law. When I was younger, I loved riding in the back of pickups, and it was especially fun riding in the trunk of my grandparents' station wagon. Now that isn't legal any more, so it's been years since we've done that.

I got a car for my 18th birthday. I remember telling my French teacher about it. It was a yellow Dodge Viper. She was impressed until I pulled it out of my pocket and showed it to her. It was a matchbox.

When I was 15, a lot of my friends started taking driver's ed. In Washington State, you can get your learner's permit at 15½. I was a bit wary at first because I had slow reflexes when I was younger, and was worried that would cause issues. Also, when playing Pac-Man, I kept missing corners and could just see myself driving a car and overshooting an intersection. (Thankfully, I have since learned that isn't how cars work!) So I waited a few years before getting my driver's license. Even after getting my license, it was several years before I got my own car. I drove the family car when I needed to, and occasionally borrowed one. Seattle has a great transit system, so I generally commuted to work on the bus.

As long as I can remember, I have always named our (real) car. My first car was Astrid. My dad helped me to find a place that sold used cars, and Astrid had been a rental before being retired from that status. She was beautiful. Being single and not having kids, she was like my child. It was heartbreaking losing her in an accident in 2019 (see the poem I wrote in the link in this paragraph). I waited a couple months to get a new car, due to injuries from the accident, but once I was cleared to drive again by the doctor, I went looking for a new car. A friend recommended CarGurus.com, and I found the perfect car at a nearby dealer. I was able to haggle the price down a bit, and he is an amazing car. I named him Luke. Though he has less trunk space than Astrid, I feel he was an upgrade on the whole.

At this point, I'm sure you're wondering how I drive with my cell phone. The simple answer is, I don't! I know, it may be a bit shocking that there are things I don't do with my phone (such as drinking coffee), but driving and texting or holding a phone is illegal in this area, and my phone does not magically transform into a car, or a robot for that matter. (Don't tell Optimus Prime or Bumblebee. I'm sure they'd be disappointed.) That said, I have been known to check bus schedules and New York subway schedules on my phone. The OneBusAway app is great for bus schedules. Google is also great. I have also used my phone to order plane and train tickets and request rides on taxis, as well as Uber and Lyft.

Driving Fear - Part 4

Close Calls

It was September or October of 2002. Thanks to the sun, that is one of the worst times of the year to drive, and I had a class in Everett, WA. I had just left school to head home, and the sun was setting. I had to drive up a hill, and the sun in all its brilliance was just over the ridge of the hill, straight ahead. There was no way to avoid looking into the sun, as I would have had to block off the windshield or shut my eyes, either of which would have been dangerous. I couldn't see ahead of me, and I quickly realized that it would be too dangerous to continue forward, as the sheer brilliance of the sun was blocking everything. But the alternative was almost as dangerous. I realized I had to turn around, but that meant turning left into a parking lot, crossing the oncoming lane. I couldn't see if there were any cars coming! Finally, I said a prayer and trusted that God would protect me when turning blindly. They were some of the most terrifying seconds I have ever experienced, but God protected me and no cars came while I was crossing. Needless to say, I went the other way and made it home safely. But I will never forget that day, when God taught me an important lesson about faith. Sometimes all you can do is pray and trust that He will protect you, then make the leap.

Fast forward a few years, and I was going to a reunion for a former employer who had gone out of business. It was in the form of a picnic at Seattle's Carkeek Park. I got to the park and searched for our group. Nobody. I never did find the group, so I ate the food I had brought and left. I was involved in a play with UPAC Theatre Group at the time, and rehearsal was that evening. Carkeek Park is pretty close to the rehearsal and performance space, so I drove to rehearsal. The park is in a particularly hilly area of town, and as you are leaving, there is one corner that has a stop sign, and the hill on which you have to stop is somewhat steep. I hate waiting on hills as it is, since it's somewhat challenging to get enough traction to go forward rather than backward. In addition, that particular corner intersects a tree-lined street. Between the trees and the fence, it makes for a blind corner. So I inched forward as far as safely possible in order to have at least the front tires on a flat surface and so I could see around the trees. When it looked safe, I started forward again. Just then, a car that must have been going about twice the speed limit zoomed past, coming out of nowhere, and very nearly hitting me. If it had, I would have spun out of control and probably rolled down the hill. Thankfully, I had enough mental faculties left to get to rehearsal safely, but I was very shaken. I have not driven to or from Carkeek Park since. Again, God protected me.

I am incredibly thankful for God's protection. He has brought me through many close calls, and I have grown as a result. I would not want to repeat them, but I'm thankful that He's allowed me to experience them as He had a lesson for me each time.

Driving Fear - Part 3

The Garbage Truck

The year was 1986. My mom, my brother Tim and I were on our way to the airport to pick up my dad. I was sitting in the front passenger seat, and Tim was in the back. Nearly to the airport, we were stopped at a traffic light in what is now the city of SeaTac (so named because it's between Seattle and Tacoma), and there was a garbage truck ahead of us. The light turned green, and nothing happened. The car ahead of the garbage truck was not moving. (I forget if it was stalled or the driver had decided to get out while the light was red.) So it was that the garbage truck with its high rear bumper started to back up. My mom laid on the horn, but the driver continued to back up, not hearing. We couldn't back up because there were cars behind us. The truck was folding our hood, and my mom and I sat there terrified, praying desperately. My poor brother was sitting in the back seat with visions of being the only survivor. It wasn't until our windshield shattered that the truck driver finally heard and stopped...within a few inches of crushing us. He got out and came back, observing that it was "obviously my fault." Once he pulled forward again, we found that the car was (thankfully) still driveable. The two vehicles pulled into the parking lot of the nearby Red Lion Inn, where my mom and the truck driver spoke with the police. The officer dismissed the other driver, and he got out his ticket pad. He informed my mom that this was his least favorite part of his job, but that he was going to have to give her a ticket for speeding! Why he didn't bother to get the facts first, I may never know. She said, "But sir, I was sitting still!"

"You mean he backed into you?!" he said. When my mom answered in the affirmative, the officer managed to catch the truck driver, who came back and corroborated the story. When he looked at the other driver's license, he wished him a happy birthday. I'm guessing that was not the driver's favorite birthday ever.

After we were dismissed, we continued on to the airport and picked up my dad, and our next stop was the repair shop. We liked the rental car better than our normal car. :-)

Some things I learned from this experience were that God is there, He hears our prayers, and He is our protector. Any time we are in a scary situation, we can pray to Him, and He will hear. Even when the driver ahead of you can't hear your horn.

Also, we should never jump to conclusions. There are better places to jump.

Driving Fear - Part 2

The Scenic Route

It was my first day driving on my own, with nobody else in the car. I had been to work many times, of course, but I had always either gotten a ride, driven with someone in the car to help me get there, or taken the bus. Now I was on my own. It was a simple trip from Mountlake Terrace to Bothell, WA. Maybe 5 miles, tops. No sweat, right?

But then came the missed turn. I went straight when I should have turned right. Pretty soon I found myself in Maltby. This was a cause for concern, as I had never been to Maltby before, and I had no idea where Maltby was. It's a pretty city, and I might have enjoyed it, had I intended to go there. Pretty soon I found a sign pointing to Bothell and followed it. I didn't see any other signs, and before I knew it, I found myself in an abandoned yard for an old building that looked like it hadn't seen people working there in about 50 years or so. OK, turn around...now what?

I continued on my way in a direction that I figured was (hopefully) the way to Bothell, but pretty soon, I saw a Clearview Restaurant. Then a Clearview Gas Station. I was getting worried now because it looked like, judging from the common thread in the names of the businesses, Clearview was a city. I had never heard of Clearview, and that was quite concerning. I continued along a highway that seemed to go on and on, and I got the feeling I was getting farther and farther from my destination. Finally, I found an exit and turned around.

When I finally got to work, I was 2 hours late. Fortunately, once I explained the delay, we all had a good laugh. The drive should have taken about ten minutes.

(Click on the map to see it larger)

I thought that was the end of my adventures for the day, but my hopes were to be dashed shortly after I left work (2 hours later than I normally would have left). Not far from the parking lot, I was turning right onto the road that crossed the freeway. The light was red, but in the state of Washington, it is legal to turn right on a red light as long as it is safe. This being my first day driving on my own, I was somewhat less than confident, and so I turned right...way too slowly. A car that was already on the road I was turning onto came sailing through the light (his light was green, and he had the right of way), and he crashed into the rear driver's side light.

Needless to say, I was terribly shaken. The police officer had to console me before issuing the ticket. I called my dad, who came over right away, and was also a big help.

A $100 fine to the city of Bothell and over $400 of repairs later, I learned that sometimes going too slowly is a bad thing. Since then, every time I drive, I am very conscious of the dangers of driving. It instilled more of a fear than ever of making a stupid mistake, and I have become a better driver because of it. Since then, I have not gotten any more tickets, and I hope never to get one again.

That day, I also learned another important lesson: Knowing where you're going and how to get there ahead of time is very important. It may make for a funny story, but being late is very often not funny at all.

It should be the same with how we view God. We need to study His roadmap (the Bible) regularly, so that we are ready for whatever circumstances may come our way, and we know when we need to turn around...sooner rather than later. And we need to watch, be alert, and be careful to follow what He has taught us through His word and through life experiences.

Driving, and following the Lord, are incredibly liberating experiences, but if we don't balance our freedom with a healthy fear, we can forfeit (or at least impair) that freedom.

Driving Fear

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." -Proverbs 9:10a

This is the first of a short series of blog posts (inspired by my friend Andy Brasfield) about what I've learned over the years about the fear of the Lord, and driving in general.

When I was young, I kept hearing about how the Bible says we're supposed to fear God. Then other times angels told people not to be afraid. Other verses are very clear about how God loves us, and He wants to be our best friend. When we choose to follow God, we are free as never before. How are we supposed to be afraid of our best friend and liberator...and if He inspires fear, is He really a friend and liberator in the first place? This dichotomy has led, in my opinion, to a misunderstanding of God's nature, especially in American circles, where our culture frowns on fear and encourages friendship. We are taught that God is our friend, and we have nothing to fear. Then we see verses like 1 John 4:18, which says that "perfect love drives out fear." When we look at the verses about the fear of God, we get confused, and we often decide the word must be mistranslated. Maybe it means awe, or something else. It wasn't until I started taking driver's ed when something sunk in for me. I submit that fear means fear. Sheer, abject terror.

While learning to drive, my dad (who taught me) was very clear about the dangers of driving. He impressed upon me that a car can be a weapon, and it is vitally important to be careful, to drive defensively, to do everything possible to stay within the law and avoid getting in an accident. The point was further emphasized when he had me go to a day class taught by a professional instructor. After I got to the class, I found out that it was mainly for people who had been ordered by the courts to attend. The icebreaker for the class was for us to go around and answer the "Why are you here?" question. Everyone but me had broken the law, had DUIs, etc. I was the only one who hadn't yet obtained a license. The more I learned, the more the parallel dawned on me regarding the fear of the Lord.

Driving, and serving the Lord, are incredibly liberating. Once I got my driver's license, it was like a huge load was lifted off of me. I no longer had to depend on people giving me rides everywhere I needed to go.

Driving, and serving the Lord, are incredibly terrifying. I have been in enough accidents (more on that in a future post) to know that if I do anything out of line while driving (or someone else on the road does), I am taking my life, and the life of any passengers, in my hands.

In the same way, serving the Lord makes me free. On numerous occasions, He has given me an incredible sense of peace, and I would not trade this life for anything. I have seen Him do miracles in my life - not the least of which was how He miraculously healed my eyes from an incurable disease.

However, the Bible tells over and over about how, while God loves us deeply, our sins can drive Him to extreme measures to get our attention. Over and over in the Bible, God sent plagues, storms, diseases, opened the ground and swallowed people. Even today, He sometimes allows us to suffer the consequences of our sins to teach us to follow Him. He will allow us to get sick, sometimes even die, from choosing to abuse our bodies (by drugs, cigarettes, overeating [I'm guilty on that count], etc.). If we choose to speed, run a red light, fail to watch carefully while driving, we can get into a wreck that can cause serious repercussions.

On the other hand, we shouldn't be so terrified of driving, or of God, that we do nothing. If we go to that extreme, that can also have serious repercussions.

Yes, driving is incredibly freeing, and I love that...but I also balance it with a healthy fear of getting in an accident. That fear keeps me from making stupid mistakes while driving. It should be the same with God...and even more so. I love Him more than I can express, but I also fear Him. The problem is, I don't fear Him enough. If I love and fear driving more than I love and fear God, I need to get my priorities straight.

One thing that has stuck with me from a devotional I read years ago is the saying "If you fear God, you have nothing else to fear."