An Unexpected Reaction

I was so excited.  I couldn’t wait to share the news with Will.

The headline read: ‘U-M’s Cityscape Will Test Driverless Vehicles.”

Since Will and his family live in Michigan, I knew he would be thrilled at the prospect of this incredible advancement and the opportunity to visit the site.  However, I was shocked at his reaction.  Until I began to think about it.

Will was totally disinterested in the prospect of owning or riding in an automated vehicle.  And as I thought about this after our Face Time call ended, I remembered another man in my life who probably would have reacted exactly the same way, my Dad and Will’s Great Grandfather.

Dad’s entire career was spent in the Automotive Industry.  Above and beyond that, he loved everything about cars.  And to his dismay, none of his three daughters shared one bit of his interest. Living in the city, public transportation was something I used comfortably all my life.  It never occurred to me to want a car much less drive one.  However, within the first week of arriving in Ohio after my wedding, I received a note from my Mother enclosing a check from Dad.  The note briefly said my Father wanted me to start driving lessons as soon as possible, and the check would cover any expense.

I wasn’t certain I wanted to drive, but my Husband thought it was a thoughtful and generous gesture on my Dad’s part, and believed I should accept his kindness.  So I did, but the first check didn’t cover the expenses because I needed more than one set of lessons.  Many more to be totally honest however, but the checks kept coming.  Dad was determined I would succeed, and after many months of anguished practice and a series of nervous instructors, I finally passed the driving test and had a license. It wasn’t one of the easiest things I have ever done, and as I thought about Will’s reaction I understood a little better.

Will has worked harder than most young men to accomplish everything he has.  He instinctively knows that if you give up your ability, you forfeit it.  He hasn’t yet succeeded in his major ambition of learning to drive.  Still he firmly believes he will achieve this.  When and if he does, he doesn’t want to relinquish it to an automated machine.  He learned early in life the value of working hard and appreciating the results.

I think Dad would agree.  I doubt if my Father would have been thrilled either to learn that in the future his descendants would not longer need to sit behind the wheel of a vehicle and assume responsibility.  Quite like his Great Grandson, he hard all his life for everything he achieved and would have been unhappy surrendering it.  Perhaps it is true that everything in life has a price, and sometimes the things that make life easier have other consequences.  Possibly it is the relinquishment of control in our lives that becomes the issue.  As the King said, “It is a puzzlement.”