Something No Man Could Ever Do

Hokkaido is the northern island that is mostly open land, fields and forests. It has some lovely winding highways, and those highways--stretching on forever--bring out the speed demon in even the mildest driver. Except me.

The car was borrowed, the single lane roads were unfamiliar, and it was raining. When I drove in Hokkaido, I took my time, with predictable results. Traffic built up behind me.

I think the natural temptation would be to drive faster so as not to have to wear the dunce cap and the slowpoke label given to the lame drivers who clog up traffic by sticking to the speed limit. But there is another alternative, and that is the one I chose: to pull over and let the speed demons pass.

Sometimes it IS right to swallow your pride and just say no.

I wish the teachers in charge of the expedition in which a seventh grade child on the threshold of his life drowned because the man who should have said "No, this is no weather to take kids out on the river in an open boat" had possessed the same courage. Sometimes it is braver to back down.

"No" is a valid choice. You can always go another day. Except for the child who died.