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Not To Drive

I am a notoriously lazy driver. There has never been a chance to ride along or carpool that I have not snapped up immediately. Though it made for a very long commute, I loved being able to hop on a train to get to work. I soaked in the sights of the subway stations and bus shelters, read the latest Harry Potter or just sat still and enjoyed not being the driver. Then came J, elementary school and living in the burbs. Driving and mommyhood go together.

Anything more than two hours of driving is too far to go "just for a weekend", I hate driving in the dark and will do anything to avoid driving in bad weather - even a mild rain would qualify. The idea of living in the heart of a big city has always been appealing because I will not need a car and won't miss its absence. All around me are people who love driving long and far. Just to hear accounts of their ten and twelve hour drives wears me out.

To me, to drive or not to drive has never been a question. The sad truth is I live in the backwaters where the notion of efficient public transportation has not yet come to exist. The nearest bus stop is about fifteen miles away - well beyond the radius of where my daily needs take me.

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