Park Not Lest Ye Be Towed

As the Route 80 bus wends its way from the corner of the street where I live through downtown it passes the corner near St. Mary's Mother of God church on the corner of 5th & H street. This church has the blessing of a parking lot on H street but since nearby is the Verizon Center they have to be sure no one parks there without permission. Hence the sign "park not lest ye be towed away." But since it's a church parking lot it's easier to lapse into a theological view of this fence. Okay, fine, "park not" means don't leave your car there. Or leave anything where it shouldn't be. Especially valuable things like cars. Or other valuable things, like your heart, or soul. But "lest ye be towed away" is definitely a warning of some consequence if you "park" that valuable thing. And it's definitely about taking away your car if you dare to park it. Like, park it and lose it. But what if you saw this positively, about taking a risk. Drive in, leave your car where you don't have permission to leave it. And it gets towed, taken away somewhere. Like, give your heart up, to something, and it gets towed away. By God. To somewhere you don't know where it will go, unless you risk it.

Drivers' Inappropriate Hand Gestures

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Four times yesterday, while driving on Route 95 to and from Pennsylvania to Washington, DC I saw young people drivers who were driving sticking their left arm out of the driver's window and waving it about. Clearly, they were enjoying the feel of the sun and wind on their arms and hands. But what they don't seem to know is that the gestures they are using are actually driver hand signals. Apparently, hand signals are not taught anymore or at least these careless drivers were oblivious or never had driver training. Driving in the left late, one driver was pointing her arm directly out as if she was going to make a left turn! She then slowly moved her to an upright position from, the elbow, a sort of L-shape as if she was now signaling a right turn! Another driver was slowly waving his arm back and forth as if beckoning people to pass him. Of course, this was impossible as he too was in the left lane and there was no way a driver could pass him without going off the road. Another young man, in the middle lane, was keeping his arm upward, again as if indicating a right hand turn but once again there was no right turn to be made. I decided that these YOUNG PEOPLE didn't have a clue about their effect on others, which seems to be the normal state of young people these days, especially when driving. God bless them anyway!