take a chance...

I'm not much of a risk taker. I believe in following the rules and being safe. This risk aversion permeates through all aspects of my life (just ask my kids) and is particularly evident in my driving habits.

I drive the speed limit on the highway. I actually count "3 mississippi's" at stop signs and I only pass on the dotted lines and never on a hill or in the dark. I'm famous for parking between the lines! (even though my children insist on mocking my need for precision)

And I like my boring, comfortable life. You won't find me letting my hair down or doing something outrageous just for the thrill of it.

I drive a red toyota corolla every morning to my office.

"Nola" is a reliable, sensible car for a woman my age. I'm sure she's peppy but haven't really ever felt the need to test it out.

About 8 km into my 35 km commute there is a small town that stretches along the highway for 1km. At that point, the speed limit reduces to 70km/hr for that short piece of road. Now the sensible part of me knows that it would be too risky to speed through that 1km of road. The RCMP are often parked there to distribute speeding tickets to unsuspecting speed demons. I'm not really good at physics but I'm pretty sure the time gained on the entire commute would be mili-seconds and that time gained is tremendously outweighed by the threat of paying the gov't more $$$ than I absolutely have to. So I always slow down.

Except yesterday

I don't know what happened; whether it was hormones or middle age, I can't tell you. But yesterday as I approached the 70km ahead sign I had the thought, "What if I DON'T SLOW DOWN? what's gonna happen? why am I always so careful? Seriously Lorri, you need to step out once in a while-do something wild and crazy."

So I kept my foot on the pedal and maintained a steady 100km/hr. The rush was practically unbearable and I almost braked halfway through but I closed my eyes for a moment and I was on the other side! I still can't believe I did that and even as I type I get a little shaky and nervous recalling the risk. My heart rate has increased and I'm short of breath just thinking about it.

I mentioned the experience to one of my kids. (I really couldn't keep my erratic behavior to myself.) She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Ya Mom, you're a rebel. Go wild. I dare you to park on the line tomorrow or better yet, roll through that stop sign outside or wait until you start the car to put on your seat belt."

I just don't get any respect.