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The first month I lived in Boston I almost hit a pedestrian with my car. He was a big pedestrian. This incident had much less to do with the quality of my driving and much more to do with the fact that driving in Boston is crazy, and if you spend more than one second waiting to turn someone behind you is going to honk. They generally don’t care if their honking is risking the life of a large pedestrian.

Even after living here five months, Boston driving remains challenging. I have no concept of the actual traffic laws, but have named a few on my own. For example, the “punk left” means one can turn left on green without waiting for the oncoming traffic to clear. This is slightly nerve wracking when you are the oncoming traffic.

I recently discussed with a few friends how to navigate driving in Boston. The general conclusion—“Drive like you mean it.”

I guess I’d already discovered this idea of taking control, but hadn’t put it so succinctly. And now I find this phrase bouncing around in my head frequently and not always while I’m in my car.

I hesitated at work the other day over making a daunting phone call. And then I heard a challenging voice in my head (my voice, but deeper…) say, “Drive like you mean it, Katie.” So I picked up the phone and dialed.

I find myself hesitant a lot lately, or maybe I should just call it scared. I’m twenty-something, and I left the wonderful world of college, and I have no idea what I am heading for in the rest of my life. I often fear making the wrong choices, or that my mistakes now will have bigger, more lasting impacts.

Being tentative or fearful does not help though. I need to take control, avoid speeding too badly, dodge the pedestrians, and generally…

Drive like I mean it.

(Photo courtesy of Horia Varlan via Flickr)

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