Do most people have the ability to simply get in a car and happily go where they want? Every time I drive I have a rapid series of panic attacks where I'm checking the speed and comparing the speed limit, making sure I have enough room to brake, checking the mirrors, making sure I even remember where to go. If I get lost, I'll probably get in a panic and do something like drive the wrong way down a one-way street. Most cars tailgate me and honk because I drive so slow too. Also constant worry about weird sounds the car is making, since I'm afraid it could break down at any moment, which for completely normal justified reasons means I could lose my job for not having reliable transportation.
I've crashed and totaled 3 cars, one time flipping 180 degrees from falling into a ditch. Society has deemed it perfectly normal to have me use a vehicle daily for more than an hour at a time and no other options are presented.
Other people, y'all are able to just get in a car and go somewhere? Like you just know the vague direction and you get there no problem?
Sorta, yes. For long drives I'll use navigation because my sense of orientation gets pretty messed up long distance - but generally, yea, driving is pretty chill. Sitting in a train is even more chill obviously, but I do generally enjoy being in control of a motorised vehicle, getting a sense of acceleration, the shifting of weight while cornering, finding traction in snowy conditions and all that. If I could afford it, I'd definitely do some amateur racing, every now and then.
Obviously driving in traffic sucks and car dependency is a blight on the earth etc - but in more rural areas there's no getting around the car and yet traffic is bearable - and I won't pretend to hate it.
yeah, can't contain my jealously then. Every second of driving is hellish for me. I'm only just now realizing this isn't the case for most people, I thought everyone hated it except for a few who did it as a hobby. Also most people seem to have a much more intuitive sense of roads, locations, north and south, that kind of thing. They can just spit out a list of directions like "Take the 518 south and jump on 110th street then head east on 32nd" and that might as well be a mystic incantation to me. Like the other day my coworker asked me to point in the direction I live in while at work and I couldn't do it. I said like "How in the hell am I supposed to do that?" and I as we talked I realized that if it's within 50 or so miles, people just kind of know what direction things are in.
I feel for you, it must suck. The first... year or two of driving, I was extremely anxious about the whole thing. Not just navigation, but the driving itself, especially when I had to get around in unfamiliar vehicles. That really changed with practice over the years tho, I'm pretty relaxed behind the wheel now.
I also get nervous driving somewhere far away for the very first time, since the navigation part is a bit of an issue for me too. But when I remind myself that I have all the time I need and can, at any point, just pull over and look for the way, I can generally deal with it.
I do autocross in my almost bone stock jetta (upgraded suspension and clutch/flywheel). It's super cheap to get into autocross, most people use their daily driven stock cars.
Yea, those events sound like good fun, but even that is not cheap for me here - even the gas to get to the track would be a financial consideration lol
And it looks like there are some serious regulations even on the most casual motor sports here, resulting in like a thousand bucks of gear just to do anything. And I really can't afford to crash my daily driver either
yeah fair enough. I live in Maine and there is a small track out in the sticks that does amateur stock car racing. We take that over and do time trials on mostly cones courses... no events with multiple cars on the track. I admit I burn a fair amount of gas to get out there
I've lived in rural areas with bus service between the towns and bike lanes letting you get from your house into town. That's bullshit. Transit is usually viable
Yeah, driving is pretty chill to me. Like, if I need to relax and not think about stuff then driving is a surprisingly good way for me to do that. There's a lot going on but that scratches a video game like itch in my brain. The only time driving really gets stressful is in heavy traffic and that's more because I want to rip my hair out and just go. Also where I am the speed limit is more of a suggestion so as long as I'm going a similar speed as traffic around me I don't really worry about it. 5-10 over the limit is pretty much the baseline.
I've got a really good sense of direction ever since I was a kid so I generally know where I am at all times. And if I've been to a place once I can get there again with no problems. Occasionally I get turned around on particularly confusing areas when google maps is being slow though but it's pretty rare.
I am cursed to own a car but at least I do get some mild enjoyment out of it.
Do most people have the ability to simply get in a car and happily go where they want? Every time I drive I have a rapid series of panic attacks where I'm checking the speed and comparing the speed limit, making sure I have enough room to brake, checking the mirrors, making sure I even remember where to go. If I get lost, I'll probably get in a panic and do something like drive the wrong way down a one-way street. Most cars tailgate me and honk because I drive so slow too. Also constant worry about weird sounds the car is making, since I'm afraid it could break down at any moment, which for completely normal justified reasons means I could lose my job for not having reliable transportation.
I've crashed and totaled 3 cars, one time flipping 180 degrees from falling into a ditch. Society has deemed it perfectly normal to have me use a vehicle daily for more than an hour at a time and no other options are presented.
Other people, y'all are able to just get in a car and go somewhere? Like you just know the vague direction and you get there no problem?
Sorta, yes. For long drives I'll use navigation because my sense of orientation gets pretty messed up long distance - but generally, yea, driving is pretty chill. Sitting in a train is even more chill obviously, but I do generally enjoy being in control of a motorised vehicle, getting a sense of acceleration, the shifting of weight while cornering, finding traction in snowy conditions and all that. If I could afford it, I'd definitely do some amateur racing, every now and then.
Obviously driving in traffic sucks and car dependency is a blight on the earth etc - but in more rural areas there's no getting around the car and yet traffic is bearable - and I won't pretend to hate it.
yeah, can't contain my jealously then. Every second of driving is hellish for me. I'm only just now realizing this isn't the case for most people, I thought everyone hated it except for a few who did it as a hobby. Also most people seem to have a much more intuitive sense of roads, locations, north and south, that kind of thing. They can just spit out a list of directions like "Take the 518 south and jump on 110th street then head east on 32nd" and that might as well be a mystic incantation to me. Like the other day my coworker asked me to point in the direction I live in while at work and I couldn't do it. I said like "How in the hell am I supposed to do that?" and I as we talked I realized that if it's within 50 or so miles, people just kind of know what direction things are in.
Yeah
I feel for you, it must suck. The first... year or two of driving, I was extremely anxious about the whole thing. Not just navigation, but the driving itself, especially when I had to get around in unfamiliar vehicles. That really changed with practice over the years tho, I'm pretty relaxed behind the wheel now.
I also get nervous driving somewhere far away for the very first time, since the navigation part is a bit of an issue for me too. But when I remind myself that I have all the time I need and can, at any point, just pull over and look for the way, I can generally deal with it.
I do autocross in my almost bone stock jetta (upgraded suspension and clutch/flywheel). It's super cheap to get into autocross, most people use their daily driven stock cars.
Yea, those events sound like good fun, but even that is not cheap for me here - even the gas to get to the track would be a financial consideration lol
And it looks like there are some serious regulations even on the most casual motor sports here, resulting in like a thousand bucks of gear just to do anything. And I really can't afford to crash my daily driver either
yeah fair enough. I live in Maine and there is a small track out in the sticks that does amateur stock car racing. We take that over and do time trials on mostly cones courses... no events with multiple cars on the track. I admit I burn a fair amount of gas to get out there
I've lived in rural areas with bus service between the towns and bike lanes letting you get from your house into town. That's bullshit. Transit is usually viable
Must've been nice 👍
Yeah, driving is pretty chill to me. Like, if I need to relax and not think about stuff then driving is a surprisingly good way for me to do that. There's a lot going on but that scratches a video game like itch in my brain. The only time driving really gets stressful is in heavy traffic and that's more because I want to rip my hair out and just go. Also where I am the speed limit is more of a suggestion so as long as I'm going a similar speed as traffic around me I don't really worry about it. 5-10 over the limit is pretty much the baseline.
I've got a really good sense of direction ever since I was a kid so I generally know where I am at all times. And if I've been to a place once I can get there again with no problems. Occasionally I get turned around on particularly confusing areas when google maps is being slow though but it's pretty rare.
I am cursed to own a car but at least I do get some mild enjoyment out of it.