Car Pool 500

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I did it for Beth. Honest—I did.

We were running a little late, and I didn’t want her to get a blemish on her attendance record. So when I noticed that long line of cars backing up next to the cemetery waiting to merge onto the main road in front of us, I became, you know, anxious. “Come on,” I said, you know, anxiously to the drivers ahead of me, “Get out there! Be bold! Be aggressive! Take a chance!”

“Uh, Dad,” Beth said, “I don’t think they can hear you.”

Beth is just sixteen and is a fairly new and inexperienced driver. She still thinks I’m just talking to myself when I give instructions to all the drivers around me. Eventually she’ll learn how important this is to maintaining equilibrium on the roadway and balance in the universe.

But on this morning it wasn’t working. The line wasn’t moving. And the clock was ticking on Beth’s attendance record.

So I decided to take my own advice. Boldly I veered off the main road and onto a service road through the cemetery. I sped aggressively through the cemetery and took a chance darting out onto the main road on the other side. My maneuver was so impressively successful that when I glanced in the rear-view mirror I noticed someone in a light blue pickup following my lead.

Suddenly, for the first time in my life, I understood NASCAR. The speed. The strategy. The adrenaline. The left turns.

Flushed with success, I turned to Beth, who had the same expression on her face that she had after she saw that movie about the babysitter who had to deal with a crazed man in her house. A new strategy seemed in order.

“Uh, you don’t need to mention that little detour to your mother,” I said.

“Don’t worry,” she said as she worked to extricate her fingernails from the armrest. “Mom already knows you drive like a maniac.”

I smiled. Among NASCAR drivers this is considered a compliment.

My drive home was sort of like a victory lap. I could almost imagine my pit crew drizzling milk all over me as I posed for pictures with the queen of the Car Pool 500.

“I did it all for Beth!” I would shout as cameras flashed all around me.

I was still feeling pretty euphoric when I approached the cemetery on my way back and noticed red and blue flashing lights on the service road. As I got closer I could see two police cars surrounding a light blue pickup—the same light blue pickup that had followed me onto the service road just a few minutes earlier. The young driver—he looked to be about Beth’s age—was sitting on a bench, his baseball-capped head in his hands, as the officers prepared the citation that was probably going to complicate the young man’s life considerably.

I’m embarrassed to admit that my first thought was: Whew! I had dodged a bullet—or at least, a traffic ticket. Then the guilt hit. I found myself wondering about the part I had played in the little police drama unfolding on the cemetery service road. Did the boy take that route because he had seen me do it? Would he have even thought of it had I not blazed such a glorious trail before him? And what had I taught my daughter about safe, sane, responsible driving?

One of the most meaningful things one generation can leave to the next is the power of example. Obviously, I had failed in this significant responsibility the morning of the Car Pool 500—NASCAR points notwithstanding. But I hereby resolve to do better.

And to do it for Beth.

LDS Living Sept/Oct 2008

Comments on this article	ADD COMMENT
You're right. Posted by Noemi from Philippines You're right! Let us be good examples.
As An Avid NASCAR Fan.. Posted by Deni from California I understand the "need for speed" and I too have been guilty of risky passes to join a freeway. All it takes is one close call to make you realize as the Sunday NASCAR drivers do, that we are behind the wheel of a potentially deadly weapon and we should be respectful of how we use it. I too have pledged to do better.
Sad Posted by Jennifer from CO Not only did he not realize the example he set for his daughter and the young driver behind him, but he also showed absolutely no respect for those people who have made that cemetery their final resting place. Just as you wouldn't let your kids desecrate the grave sites of those who have gone before, he shouldn't have used sacred ground to preserve a silly attendance record. Imagine if as he pulled out of the cemetery there had been a fatal accident that had been blocking the way. I think this gentleman has missed more than just one lesson that could be learned from his actions.
The right thing to do Posted by Mervin from Taylorsville Utah That is quite a story of someone showing a real poor example. Should the right thing to do have been, for the father to get out and exp;ain to the police, that he was a poor example for the young man who got stopped?
I did It for Beth Posted by mindy from Colorado I think it was a nice gesture. But life happens and so what about the tardy. Life has it's ups and downs. And youth need not be sheilded from that reality. And what if someone mourning a loved one had been hit by a driver who decided to take a short cut through the cementary. Life is full of choices and others learn from our choices.