Seven Deadly Sins of Drivers
English composition (ENG 111) class was part of my course work at the Northern Virginia Community College and the course load involved writing numerous essay assignments. Most of the essay assignments had to be two pages in length keeping with the MLA format, the exception being the the final thesis which had to be seven to ten pages in length.
Like I had mentioned before, I plan to share some of the essays on the blog. I hope you liked my previous one, for here is one more. *find all ENG 111 essays posted
I found this essay assignment particularly difficult. It was a division/categorization essay, and both the topic and page limit turned my brain into mush. I am happy that I managed to submit something on time, but I have to say, despite my struggle I had fun writing it and I hope you find this piece entertaining.
The Seven Deadly Sins of Drivers
The seven deadly sins are the cardinal vices that Christianity has used to educate its followers by warning them of their immoral nature and eventual damnation that may occur because of them. It could be an interesting way to view drivers on the road by categorizing them using the sins as a behavioral model.
Sloth: Many drivers spend a lot of time in their vehicle and even sleep in them, but are too lazy to take care of them. Basic things like getting the oil changed or making sure there is enough air in the tires gets ignored until it is too late. When the car finally breaks down or they have a flat tire, they wonder how it could have happened. Some of their windshields are ridden with so much bird excrement; it’s a miracle that they even made it out of their driveway without hitting someone or something.
Greed: Drivers want the latest, fastest model with the highest horse power, the most luxurious interiors, and fully loaded with every possible electronic gadget. They don’t care if they can afford it or not, they still want it, and pour every penny to get it. They will go hungry or skip on the electricity bill or water or phone bill; they will stretch themselves as thin as they can financially to have the ride they desire.
Anger: The sheer number of angry drivers on the road is astounding. If someone is driving faster than them they get angry, as they think it makes them look slow. If someone is driving slowly they get angry, for its slowing them down. They ride so close to the bumper of the car ahead of them, you may think they are going to crash. They shift lanes without indicating and get angry at those who honk at them. They get angry when others shift lanes and get in front of them, for it now spoils their view. It does not matter whether others are driving properly or not, for they are wrong no matter what.
Lust: To many male drivers their car is a symbol of their manhood. They believe that a ride that speaks in millions will definitely get the attention, respect and ample love, especially from the opposite sex. Many male drivers even see their cars as women, viewing every curve on it as a seductive and sensual object, desired to be touched; the roaring of the engine to an orgasm. Let us not forget the women drivers who derive pleasure riding big, fast cars, grabbing the gear stick with firmness and ferociousness as they try and tame the roaring, smoke spewing beast.
Gluttony: These are drivers who are constantly stuffing their faces with food. It does not matter if it is a red light or they are on the highway driving at 100mph. They have to keep their mouths working for they can’t help themselves, but eat.
Envy: Drivers are constantly checking out other cars on the road. The second they spot a car that they wished they were the ones driving, envious emotions begin to ooze out of every pore of their skins, melting their faces and trickling down to meet the pool of torrential drool pouring out of their mouths.
Pride: Some drivers are so full of it that they think they own the road, and everybody should allow them to pass whenever, wherever, and however. They are kings and queens, and it does not matter what kind of vehicle they are driving. Everyone is expected to cheer, clap, take pictures, and let them ride on, after all they are royalty.
A single driver may exhibit all these sins and only keeping such impulses in check or moderation may lessen the unhappiness that might hound these drivers and those driving around them
Lunch conversation with my two and half year old
My daughter is stuck at home today because she is not feeling well. She is in high spirits despite her fever. When I asked what she wanted for lunch her response was Mac and Cheese and vegetables (on the side). Once she sat down, she requested almonds and dried cranberries as well. As she happily munched away on her food she ripped a fart and announced loudly “I made a fart… a big fart” and I said “you did?” and she replied “I sque-e-ezed it out… I squeezed the fart out”
My Journey: Faith and Personal Realization
English composition (ENG 111) class was part of my course work at the Northern Virginia Community College and the course load involved writing numerous essay assignments. Most of the essay assignments had to be two pages in length keeping with the MLA format, the exception being the the final thesis which had to be seven to ten pages in length.
In the coming weeks, I plan to share a couple of the essays I wrote on the blog. I hope you enjoy this one. *find all ENG 111 essays posted
My Journey: Faith and personal realization
I woke up at 5:00 AM every morning and proceeded to the puja (prayer) room after having a bath. In the puja room, I sat cross-legged in front of statues and framed pictures of deities, burnt incense, and performed arathi, (also spelled aarti, is a light from burning wicks soaked in ghee (purified butter) or camphor, and is offered to the deities) and chanted mantras invoking blessings from the various gods. The next step was to read verses from the Bhagavad Gita (Hindu Scripture). This usually lasted until 6:00 AM, which was around sunrise.
The morning rituals were all that my parents asked that I do before tackling any other activity for the day. My parents were Brahmins (learned caste) belonging to the Hindu religion and as modern as they tried to be, they held close to their hearts the remnants, and altered simpler versions of the many traditional rituals that were still performed by orthodox Brahmins.
I lived in Bengaluru city (India), in a community densely populated by Brahmin families. Attending a catholic school was my first exposure to another faith. The morning assemblies at the school began with singing out verses from the bible. It did not matter what faith the students who attended the school were from, we all sang together.
One of my friends at school was a Muslim boy, and interacting with him and his family exposed me to the ritualistic nuances of yet another faith. I found out that his family prayed five times a day and the women in his house covered their heads with hijab, and covered their faces with a veil, especially in front of men who were not their husbands.
Pursuing further education, work and travel gave me opportunity to meet and interact with people from various other faiths. There were many differences in what each faith preached, which I call the ‘fine print,’ I also found many similarities, especially when viewed in a broader sense. The more I got exposed the less I paid attention to the fine print. The commonality of the various faiths stood out and stared at me; my own beliefs started to change and evolve.
I felt believing in a higher power was just another way of asking for humility. All the things that were beyond my control as an individual could be attributed either to chance or to a higher power. Both would work, as there lacked a clear logical and provable explanation that could be universally accepted. It occurred to me that there could be as many explanations as there were people, each with its own set of fine prints that held its believers to either a moral standard or a way of living.
I realized that I was free in my mind to believe in whatever I wanted. I could either choose from the various faiths and explanations out there, including my parent’s or come up with my own version taking from personal observations, experience, rational thought, logic, magical thinking, or specific aspects of other faith. It was an exciting and terrifying thought— I was free to hold anything sacred.
Sexting, a 21st century problem
Connectivity, accessible and mobile technology and a couple of key strokes by adolescents either for the sake of fun or peer pressure and poof, reality hits and hits hard; life changes in an instant for the worse and with little oppurtunity for recourse. They now have to share the same status as that of a pedophile or a rapist, all because of what is now called sexting.
Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photos electronically, primarily between cell phones. A unique and a growing problem that needs attention from parents, kids and law makers alike.
Whether parents are tech savvy or not they need to wake up and become aware of this. Schools and organizations working for the betterment of children need to address this and come up with educational programs and devise tools for both children and parents to better combat this. Policy makers and law makers need to recognize this as a separate problem rather than put it under the umbrella of child pornography. New laws need to happen to deal with this new and growing problem.
Here are some questions raised by Mike Galanos, CNN.
The challenges our children face are so very different than what we faced growing up. There is so much of SH*T that can happen by the time one reaches the age of 18 or 20 yrs that our children’s futures could be taken away from them even before they begin.
Even with increased awareness and vigilance by parents, I wonder if its possible to keep up with technology and truly protect our children and our children’s future. Parents need help.
Since India lacks a Sex Offender Registry, and a proper National Identification System, I wonder how it is going to deal with problems of ’sexting‘.
