Stupid Driver Games

[Added from journal notes on the road, but published with the appropriate date]

Being from Texas, maybe I'm a bit more used to long drives than some. I find myself laughing a bit here, as when I was in graduate school, when people would complain that a 90 minute drive was a long one. Drives home from school used to be three hours at least, and drives around where I grew up could run 30 to 45 minutes on a good day.

One of the thing that happens when you get used to driving - and I love road trips - is that you start to develop little games to help the time pass. I guess we do that - or I do - with any task that drags on.

This last drive, I spent a lot of time thinking about how I'd leave clues for loved ones to find me if I had to disappear. You know, if I were a spy and had to flee the area. I spend more than a little time with stupid James Bond-esque thoughts when I'm driving. Or wishing I had some sort of violent telekinesis so I could explode bad drivers out of my way. But that only happens sometimes. Mostly.

Anyway, the point is - as much as there is one - is the extent we go to for distraction.

When I was in banking, I used to find myself planning all the ways I could steal from the bank. Probably everyone has thoughts like that who worked there; some people even tried it. It seemed like their concern was always how much they could get away with. But it always seemed to me they were focused on the wrong thing. That's why they got caught - because they were focused on what they could get and not on how it would work. The secret, I figured, wasn't not getting caught, but in using the time till you get caught most effectively.

So on the road, thinking about who I'd contact - and how - if I suddenly had to disappear. Just like with the bank scenario, thinking about disappearing means thinking about what the real problem might be.

Assuming you wanted to disappear, but you wanted to be found, the trick isn't getting people to look, it would be getting them to look at the right time. So I'd try to pick one thing I loved that they'd have no interest in - probably a book or an album - and leave the clues there. And from there it would just be a scavenger hunt, right? Then the trick is just deciding where you'd want them to find you.

I'm thinking a beach in Thailand.