Riding Shotgun

Not being an automobile driver, I enjoy road trips riding shotgun. Riding down the long and winding roads with someone else at the wheel, I’m seated next to the pilot who steers and navigates without any control.  I’m along for the ride.

Riding shotgun means rolling down the window and feeling the wind without any distraction of stoplights or weird driving habits. Change the radio stations and look at the folded maps to directions you never understand. Open the drinks and toss out the roaches while keeping up the conversation is the job of the shotgun or sidekick. I’m along for the ride.

Tolls and gas cost never occurs to the shotgun but if always willing to chip in. There was no cost of a ticket to begin with for the flat tire or the overheated radiator or the windshield wipers are the driver’s responsibility. I’m along for the ride. I’m a passenger.

Steeping into public transportation, whether it’s a bus, subway, train or airplane, you are out of control. You are a passenger.

Being a shotgun is a preferred position for being in the backseat is for babies.

When I’m in control I’m the pilot, the engineer, the captain, the driver. I have to be in control. When a tree is down, I have to find another way. When it rains, I have to watch the radar. When there is snow, different alternatives must be used. Traffic is always an observation to be aware of. I don’t ride with a shotgun.