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Vacationing
Aug. 12th, 2002 10:09 amAd Mundo Exteriore,
I got back from my nominal family summer vacation trip a day early. That's technically incorrect, because the nominal family summer vacation trip never really took place. We didn't go to Montreal because we got into a car crash at Cambridge, while coming out of the MIT campus. For my father and me, this is our second car accident. Fourth for my mother. I suppose that could sound funny if you were looking at it from a more detached perspective, but it is extremely depressing from my current point of view.
What happened: while we were exiting from the MIT parking lot, a pizza delivery car smashed into the front driver's side wheel. Luckily, no one was hurt, although the other driver may later press charges for long-term health damage. Mother has a bad bruise on her right knee, the same knee that was damaged in her first car accident, and Father has a ringing headache, but that's it.
Naturally in that state we were in no condition to even consider driving to Montreal, especially when we were worried about going home. Getting into a car accident in another state is a nightmare. What's even worse was that both my parents panicked. I didn't realize they were panicking, because they were just standing there, a little numbed and shocked, but when I realized that they were doing nothing not because they were waiting for something, but because they had no idea...::sighs:: Father should have called the insurance company right away or at least talk to the police and ask them questions about what to do, instead of rushing at the last minute when our car was about to be towed away. Mother took out all our belongings from the car, but when we got into the taxi to go to the rental place, she left the bag with all the insurance and car information as well as all our maps of Boston on the sidewalk next to the road where the car crash took place.
I had to talk with the insurance claims agent because she couldn't understand my father's accent. The woman was nice, but talked in the most infuriatingly slow Southern accent. Also, thank goodness I had noticed where my mother left the bag, so when she started panicking at the car rental place, I had to hail a taxi and drag her back to the car crash site. Luckily no one had stolen the bag in the meanwhile, so we could pick it up again. And against all odds, we managed to get to Harvard in time for the information session and campus tour at 2 o' clock (the car accident happened at noon and we hadn't expected to get there at all). Father had remained at the car rental place, but he managed to catch us exactly at the right place when we were on the tour. So somehow, with heavy helpings of luck, we pulled through a potential disaster.
What depresses me is the fact that I spent an entire hour doing nothing, expecting my parents to be able to take care of things. I mean, no one expects the kid, the passenger, to be in control of the situation right? I was doing exactly what was expected of me, waiting quietly and staying out of the way. But I realized midway that if I had taken control from the beginning, it would have gone more smoothly. I should have told Father to go ahead and call the insurance company or talk to the police. I should have picked up that bag when I saw it on the ground instead of expecting my mother to take care of it. The thing is, I trusted my parents to be the adults in the family, but because they panicked, they mangled the situation a lot more than I would have if I had taken control from the beginning. I mean, I grow calm in emergencies, because the adrenaline tells me to focus and figure out how to solve the problem, put the emotions off for later. But not so for my parents. They're always conscious of being in a foreign country (regardless of their current status of citizenship) and of not speaking the language very well. They feel like strangers, and since this accident took place far away from home, they panicked even more. I could kick myself for not realizing it sooner, but I realized that I have to protect my parents and shield them from the outside world even more than they do for me. So now I feel horribly guilty.
What makes this accident even more of a calamity is the fact that Mother was just getting over her three previous accidents and felt almost ready to drive a car again. Now that this fourth accident has happened, all her car-phobia has returned and multiplied tenfold. Father's feeling nervous too; his driving is more cautious but also a lot more "jumpy" than it was before. And me--I haven't told Mother this, because she'd feel guilty and worry over me, but I frankly never want to learn how to drive a car. I'm not as afraid as Mother is, but I can't relax and fall completely asleep in the car anymore, because I'm also watching at every intersection, imagining all sorts of possible crash situations. I don't show it and gasp at every jerk or near miss like Mother does, but I still feel anxious. And never before have I realized how horrendous the traffic system is. Missing signs, bad lights, complicated intersections...ugh. I think I want to live somewhere where transportation without a car is an option.
How this has influenced my college choices: I no longer want to go to MIT, even though it is still a good choice academically. The MIT campus was ugly, but functional, and I might have tolerated it if this accident hadn't happened. I still really want to go to Caltech, but it is no longer my secret personal first choice, because living in California without a car is much more impossible than living in the Northeast.
So instead of going to Montreal, we wandered some more around Cambridge the following day, before going home early to relax. Harvard's campus isn't really as breathtaking as I'd expected it to be. Tina and I--we went on the same day to the same tour--agreed that all the bricks reminded us of Hunter. Do I really want to spend another four years within bricks? The architecture wasn't amazing, but I think Tina was more disappointed than I was. Compared to MIT, Harvard was really very nice and charming. I liked the inside of the buildings too--my only real problem is the bricks. But I think the best thing about Harvard is the possibility of applying for sophomore standing. Graduating in three years is going to be less stressful on my parents' purse than the full four. Also, I can take five courses a semester if I can manage it. "If" is a key word, of course, but that makes me feel better about not being able to learn all the odd and bizarre things that I want to know.
Anyway, I liked the campus a lot more after walking around on Saturday. It's not as "cozy" as Columbia or Princeton, but it still has a college atmosphere. Also, the neighborhood around the campus is really wonderful. We visited several local bookstores, and they're absolutely amazing. One of the bookstores had put out copies of Shadow Puppets, nine days in advance. I couldn't stay and read it, or even try to buy it. ::annoyed:: It also had paperbacks of Reaper Man and Witches Abroad, which are the only Terry Pratchett books that I haven't read yet, so I was doubly annoyed. Especially because my local B&N doesn't have them on the shelf. We also went into an HMV, and it has all the great recordings as well as the cheap ones. There was a full soundtrack of "Turandot," the one that was performed in the Forbidden City at Beijing. We also found Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 5, which Mother had wanted so much, as well as two Anuna records that I don't have. We relaxed on the outdoor terrace at Au Bon Pain, then ate gourmet hamburgers at a local restaurant. It's really a nice neighborhood, even if the roads change names at intersections and form triangles and pentagons much more often than the sensible rectangles. I think it's near impossible to find your way around in Cambridge without getting lost at least five times.
So for a while, we relaxed a little and tried to make a vacation out of our stay in Cambridge, but the following day, after we had gotten a good night's sleep in our own beds, we had to write up reports, talk to the car company about repairs and towing, argued about whether we should have it towed here or fix it there, had an awful time driving to the supermarket and coming back...::sighs::
I didn't really want to live in a city, but I think I'll be forced to live rather near an urban area if I want to avoid driving cars.
...Tari
I got back from my nominal family summer vacation trip a day early. That's technically incorrect, because the nominal family summer vacation trip never really took place. We didn't go to Montreal because we got into a car crash at Cambridge, while coming out of the MIT campus. For my father and me, this is our second car accident. Fourth for my mother. I suppose that could sound funny if you were looking at it from a more detached perspective, but it is extremely depressing from my current point of view.
What happened: while we were exiting from the MIT parking lot, a pizza delivery car smashed into the front driver's side wheel. Luckily, no one was hurt, although the other driver may later press charges for long-term health damage. Mother has a bad bruise on her right knee, the same knee that was damaged in her first car accident, and Father has a ringing headache, but that's it.
Naturally in that state we were in no condition to even consider driving to Montreal, especially when we were worried about going home. Getting into a car accident in another state is a nightmare. What's even worse was that both my parents panicked. I didn't realize they were panicking, because they were just standing there, a little numbed and shocked, but when I realized that they were doing nothing not because they were waiting for something, but because they had no idea...::sighs:: Father should have called the insurance company right away or at least talk to the police and ask them questions about what to do, instead of rushing at the last minute when our car was about to be towed away. Mother took out all our belongings from the car, but when we got into the taxi to go to the rental place, she left the bag with all the insurance and car information as well as all our maps of Boston on the sidewalk next to the road where the car crash took place.
I had to talk with the insurance claims agent because she couldn't understand my father's accent. The woman was nice, but talked in the most infuriatingly slow Southern accent. Also, thank goodness I had noticed where my mother left the bag, so when she started panicking at the car rental place, I had to hail a taxi and drag her back to the car crash site. Luckily no one had stolen the bag in the meanwhile, so we could pick it up again. And against all odds, we managed to get to Harvard in time for the information session and campus tour at 2 o' clock (the car accident happened at noon and we hadn't expected to get there at all). Father had remained at the car rental place, but he managed to catch us exactly at the right place when we were on the tour. So somehow, with heavy helpings of luck, we pulled through a potential disaster.
What depresses me is the fact that I spent an entire hour doing nothing, expecting my parents to be able to take care of things. I mean, no one expects the kid, the passenger, to be in control of the situation right? I was doing exactly what was expected of me, waiting quietly and staying out of the way. But I realized midway that if I had taken control from the beginning, it would have gone more smoothly. I should have told Father to go ahead and call the insurance company or talk to the police. I should have picked up that bag when I saw it on the ground instead of expecting my mother to take care of it. The thing is, I trusted my parents to be the adults in the family, but because they panicked, they mangled the situation a lot more than I would have if I had taken control from the beginning. I mean, I grow calm in emergencies, because the adrenaline tells me to focus and figure out how to solve the problem, put the emotions off for later. But not so for my parents. They're always conscious of being in a foreign country (regardless of their current status of citizenship) and of not speaking the language very well. They feel like strangers, and since this accident took place far away from home, they panicked even more. I could kick myself for not realizing it sooner, but I realized that I have to protect my parents and shield them from the outside world even more than they do for me. So now I feel horribly guilty.
What makes this accident even more of a calamity is the fact that Mother was just getting over her three previous accidents and felt almost ready to drive a car again. Now that this fourth accident has happened, all her car-phobia has returned and multiplied tenfold. Father's feeling nervous too; his driving is more cautious but also a lot more "jumpy" than it was before. And me--I haven't told Mother this, because she'd feel guilty and worry over me, but I frankly never want to learn how to drive a car. I'm not as afraid as Mother is, but I can't relax and fall completely asleep in the car anymore, because I'm also watching at every intersection, imagining all sorts of possible crash situations. I don't show it and gasp at every jerk or near miss like Mother does, but I still feel anxious. And never before have I realized how horrendous the traffic system is. Missing signs, bad lights, complicated intersections...ugh. I think I want to live somewhere where transportation without a car is an option.
How this has influenced my college choices: I no longer want to go to MIT, even though it is still a good choice academically. The MIT campus was ugly, but functional, and I might have tolerated it if this accident hadn't happened. I still really want to go to Caltech, but it is no longer my secret personal first choice, because living in California without a car is much more impossible than living in the Northeast.
So instead of going to Montreal, we wandered some more around Cambridge the following day, before going home early to relax. Harvard's campus isn't really as breathtaking as I'd expected it to be. Tina and I--we went on the same day to the same tour--agreed that all the bricks reminded us of Hunter. Do I really want to spend another four years within bricks? The architecture wasn't amazing, but I think Tina was more disappointed than I was. Compared to MIT, Harvard was really very nice and charming. I liked the inside of the buildings too--my only real problem is the bricks. But I think the best thing about Harvard is the possibility of applying for sophomore standing. Graduating in three years is going to be less stressful on my parents' purse than the full four. Also, I can take five courses a semester if I can manage it. "If" is a key word, of course, but that makes me feel better about not being able to learn all the odd and bizarre things that I want to know.
Anyway, I liked the campus a lot more after walking around on Saturday. It's not as "cozy" as Columbia or Princeton, but it still has a college atmosphere. Also, the neighborhood around the campus is really wonderful. We visited several local bookstores, and they're absolutely amazing. One of the bookstores had put out copies of Shadow Puppets, nine days in advance. I couldn't stay and read it, or even try to buy it. ::annoyed:: It also had paperbacks of Reaper Man and Witches Abroad, which are the only Terry Pratchett books that I haven't read yet, so I was doubly annoyed. Especially because my local B&N doesn't have them on the shelf. We also went into an HMV, and it has all the great recordings as well as the cheap ones. There was a full soundtrack of "Turandot," the one that was performed in the Forbidden City at Beijing. We also found Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 5, which Mother had wanted so much, as well as two Anuna records that I don't have. We relaxed on the outdoor terrace at Au Bon Pain, then ate gourmet hamburgers at a local restaurant. It's really a nice neighborhood, even if the roads change names at intersections and form triangles and pentagons much more often than the sensible rectangles. I think it's near impossible to find your way around in Cambridge without getting lost at least five times.
So for a while, we relaxed a little and tried to make a vacation out of our stay in Cambridge, but the following day, after we had gotten a good night's sleep in our own beds, we had to write up reports, talk to the car company about repairs and towing, argued about whether we should have it towed here or fix it there, had an awful time driving to the supermarket and coming back...::sighs::
I didn't really want to live in a city, but I think I'll be forced to live rather near an urban area if I want to avoid driving cars.
...Tari
