Lawyers Road Review

Ever since Homer wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey Western Civilization has been captivated by the need to move, to travel, to discover the new, to see what lies around that corner or beyond the horizon. And often this leads to conflict.

About 500 years after these works of fiction another set of Greeks sailed away on a real life adventure to take the Island of Rhodes.

The islanders held out against the Greek invasion, with the help of the Egyptian fleet sent by Ptolemy I. To celebrate the people of Rhodes erected a colossal statue bestride their harbor of their patron god Helios, which in due course became known as the Colossus of Rhodes.

Sydney Barclay wood engraving 1875

Symbols of this god Helios, his success, power, masculinity no longer appear as a tall statue at the entrance to the harbor of ancient Rhodes, because an earthquake some 80 years later drove it to the ground.

Today we stand astride our own colossus of roads; Chevrolet’s  Fords,  some GMC or Dodge, and relish our heroic journey, not Greeks but Americans. Yet like the Colossus our symbols of success, power and masculinity are doomed. The evidence is the internal combustion engine and the size of the vehicle it powers are inefficient dinosaurs likely contributing to climate change with each step on the accelerator.  

It is not just trucks either. For the longest time the sedan carried the torch of our myths of ourselves. I know that it does for me, largely because what I drive was owned by my Dad.

Now we learn the state of Washington has commissioned a study to identify the small percentage of drivers who use the most gas; something like 7% of us burn 1000 gallons of fuel a year. What do you suppose the state will do with this information? The media has predicted the results will show these people live in rural settings where mass transit does not exist, and likely drive pickups because they actually pick things up and drive long distances to do so.

Not everyone of course that drives the F-150 Ford style vehicle fits this mold. I had a guy move in next door who found his Ram 3500 Dodge simply did not fit in his driveway. It stuck out on to the sidewalk. He was ticketed by the Parking Enforcement Shock Troops of Seattle incessantly. He was gone a the end of his lease.

This is the kind of guy that is out on the freeway intimidating sedans like mine, or even the now common and lighter electric cars we will all be driving one day. All in all it is probably better if we get there sooner than later, but I certainly hope we are not pushed by the government.

Somehow when I started this post I thought the audio podcast found near the top of this page would be about this need for humanity to portray itself in its perceived greatness and myth. Instead this week witnessed so much madness on the road I found myself Friday afternoon in the studio referencing the film The Matrix because that is how modern life on the road seems to be.

We all know something is not really right. We see it on the freeway and in the streets in town; conduct rational human beings do not normally exhibit is an everyday event.

I met the another ancient Greek preparing this podcast, Morpheus, the god of dreams. He offered me the same black pill he offered Keanu Reeves to forget these events and going pretending everything was OK.

I am afraid I have swallowed the red pill Morpheus has also offered both of us and like Keanu Reeves I know too much. And you do too if you read this far and listened to the podcast.

There’s no turning back.

An Agent. “I don’t like you Mr. Patterson.”

End Music Dividing Lines by Ford Geisbrecht