I drove a car for 30 miles yesterday. I hadn’t driven a car so far without passengers in over 15 years, and boy did it feel weird. All these cars on the road with people sitting perfectly still holding their steering wheels and having to remember not to go off the road. Driving, I feel a bizarre mixture of complete control and no control at all.
I have to drive 30 or so miles at night pretty often. That's what you get in a sprawled metropolis.
The thing I always liked about night is that human culture becomes absolutely dominant. The world disolves into nothing but glowing colored symbols. You only know the real world exists outside your car because of a glowing white line and some glowing green and red dots. And even though these cultural cues are all you have to work with, you still manage to get home safely every night (at least, I have).
I thought up all my contemporary theory exams during night driving. It's just you and practical culture on the road.
Rewatch the Christopher Walken scene in Annie Hall.
What I find weird is that you've managed to go 15 years without driving more than 30 miles without passengers.
Last weekend I drove about 500 miles without passengers. Yes, even with high gas prices.