The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Backseat Driving -Are You Guilty?

Dessa Rodeffer, Quill Publisher-Owner

Driving to Alabama with my husband over the weekend to watch Matthew pitch, I found out that from time to time there was a back-seat driver aboard.

Now, I don't know how a person ever gets along when they are driving alone, but it seems that with Michael and me, we both like to take turns doing the back-seat driving.

It's not that I mind him telling me that there's a red light ahead, if only he didn't shout it out like a herd of buffalos were ready to descend on us.

Of course, I like to point out to him that he is hugging the line a little too closely, or when it is raining, telling him that he could see a whole lot better if he would turn on his windshield wipers.

It's not that I don't think he is a good driver or that he thinks I'm a bad driver, we just think the other needs our help. We do, however, have a lack of confidence in each other's map reading abilities. Each of us would rather ask a stranger the correct way to the ballpark than to rely on each other and the map! Of course, that was after the dead end in a residential area when he was sure he knew a shorter way.

Although neither of us really wants to drive and both would rather curl up in the passenger's seat, we still seem to enjoy having that map in our hands, and then telling the other one where to go.

Twenty-four years and still driving each other crazy.