I love this saying, because it makes absolutely no logical sense. For those unfamiliar, this saying is usually directed at someone driving a car who needs to do so in a more rapid manner than they currently are doing, ie they’re late for something, or trying to get away from someone or something.
This also implies that car thieves automatically drive fast. This isn’t always true, because that would cause undue attention directed at them. therefore they’d stick out like a sore thumb!! If you’d just stolen a car, would you actually drive around very fast, thus creating a spectacle? I didn’t think so. Granted, if being pursued by the police, a car thief might drive fast, but how often do those high-speed chases end up where the thief evades the police successfully and winds up with a free car?
I’ve seen enough cop shows on TV to know that catching car thieves is something cops are fairly good at, namely when involved in a chase. “Parked car theft” is a whole other story, equally as shitty, and even worse since there’s practically nothing to go on when the cops show up.
I don’t know what prompted me to write this all down, I just think it’s funny when someone says “OK man, drive it like you stole it” – if I heard that I’d drive normally, not because I wouldn’t drive fast if I’d actually stolen the thing, I’d just want to piss that person off. 
Had a hectic day at work today, so I wasn’t sure if I’d be in the mood to do anything after work, I just wanted to come home and mellow out, possibly go to bed early. After dinner, I came upstairs to work on the website a little, and then one of my good friends from out-of-town texted me and asked if I wanted to meet up at one of the diners near me. I’m glad I did. Tonight was his last night here, so I wanted to make sure to see him once more before he left.
I had a nice time, we chatted about some stuff and geeked out with our iDevices (he with his 32GB iPod Touch, me sporting my iPad and iPhone 3Gs…yes, I know, it never ends.) Once we were heading out, we shook hands and I bid him a safe drive. He’s heading back home to VA tomorrow, I told him to call me when he gets there (I always like to know when someone makes it to their destination safely.) Then, I headed off towards home, a typically uneventful drive, but for some reason it wasn’t tonight.
The weather was perfect. About 73 degrees outside, slightly cool breeze with all the windows down and sunroof open. Music was pumping, roads were practically empty; it was just me and my wheels gliding down the road like the roads were there only for me. I really didn’t want to come home. Song after song played on my iPod, I screamed along with the words singing as loud as I could, just truly loving every moment.
I was having a blast with the driving too; I admit I was a bit overzealous with the throttle, but I never felt more connected to my car than I did tonight. I feel like I was in The Matrix, strapped in to one of those chairs and “plugged in”, except instead of being plugged in to a virtual world I was plugged in to my driver’s seat. The gearshift an extension of my arms, the gas, brake, and clutch extensions of my feet. I wasn’t even thinking about anything except the curves ahead. The gears, the shifts, the throttle, the music, the wind, it had me almost in a trance and I didn’t want it to end, but we all need sleep right?
The only thing that would have made that ride even better is if someone were with me, but I’m sure there will be more nights like this one; more opportunities to roll the windows down, crank up the tunes, and let loose (safely and responsibly of course.)
