NOM

Mini rant -

In case you haven't realized it yet, I get annoyed, easily. One of my pet peeves is someone saying "Drive Safe", especially a close relative (ie. mother or MIL)

I know it is a kind gesture, they really just want us to be OK. When we left SLC to come back to PHX I heard this many times. and I'm sure we'll hear it many times in the future.

We have a standard issue family vehicle, my wife and 2 young children are in the car as well. What do they think I"m going to do - race a corvette to St. George?
Most people close to me know that I maintain/repair our family car. Yes, it is getting a lot of miles on it and yes i've spent more time under the hood than I care to admit. But I purposefully go to Discount Tire before a good trip to make sure the tires are in good shape, I almost always immediately repair an issue, my driving record (at least the last 10 years) is pretty darn good.

So why does this bug me? On the surface, it is mildly insulting to me - albeit unintentional. Of course I will do my best to drive safely and protect my family. I'm not a recently licensed teenager anymore, I have priorities beyond drifting up the freeway ramp. I don't need to be perpetually reminded to drive safely. Of course mothers will always be concerned so they get a pass saying stuff like this.

But the real reason it bothers me is that it's fear based mentality, and this is perpetuated in the LDS culture. I'm sure it exists in many other cultures, but this is the one I know. Instead of thinking happy thoughts like - "Enjoy the drive back" or "It was great to see you" we get reminded of fear to 'drive safely'.

It's just annoying - rant over.

Just call home when your arrive.
It worked wonders, mom stopped asking when she noticed I cared for her worries.

Meilingkie wrote:Just call home when your arrive.
It worked wonders, mom stopped asking when she noticed I cared for her worries.

I intentionally don't call them when we arrive just in spite.

Hmmm...what an interesting (and perhaps odd?) thing to find irritating. I'm impressed how much thought you've put into it! In fact it reminds of how much Joseph could spin out of the most inconspicuous passage, be it in English or Egyptian. You're in good company!

But I mean no offense, I find arguably inconsequential things really irritating too. For example, I hate it when my wife says we're heading "up" somewhere when we're heading south or "down" when heading north. I can not abide it but I think she just does it to bug me now.

However this particular phrase seems pretty innocent to me. It could boil down to cultural differences. We hear this phrase a lot in Canada but our roadways are icy thoroughfares of death. Perhaps take comfort in the fact that this phrase will surely pass out of favor soon. Everything I'm hearing is robots will soon be taking over and our days driving will be finished. Enjoy the phrase while you can!!

I've always taken "Drive safe!" as someone wishing me well in the vein of "take care", not instructing me to stay out of the fast lane. Maybe I didn't hear them right.

Linked wrote:I've always taken "Drive safe!" as someone wishing me well in the vein of "take care", not instructing me to stay out of the fast lane. Maybe I didn't hear them right.

While I know they don't mean it that way, I've often felt kind of like Korihor when someone says "Drive safe!" They mean "I hope you travel safely" but in my mind I'll think "What, like I was going to drive like a bat out of hell?!" Glad I'm not the only one!

fh451

Like LaMachina said, it's an odd thing to be bothered by. It's just my irrationality coming out.

Would it be better to say "Drive safely"?

I prefer:

Drive fast, and take chances!

It actually gets people to think about it is easy to make dumb decisions behind the wheel that you may regret.

This is on par with the annoying trite and vain repetitions in LDS prayers:

"Please bless that no harm or accident will come to us, that we will travel safely home."

"Please bless the refreshments."

A favorite from DD:
"Please bless the missionaries in the missionary field."

And BTW, do I really need health in my navel? If I don't regularly check it for sweater fuzz, is that unhealthy?

DD prayed for all.car accidents to stop forever tonight. What a great prayer. I wish it could happen.

RubinHighlander wrote:This is on par with the annoying trite and vain repetitions in LDS prayers:

"Please bless that no harm or accident will come to us, that we will travel safely home."

"Please bless the refreshments."

A favorite from DD:
"Please bless the missionaries in the missionary field."

And BTW, do I really need health in my navel? If I don't regularly check it for sweater fuzz, is that unhealthy?

Very funny RubinH. Korihor, maybe you can down a Fuzzy Navel to cool your nerves about this.

Next time you come down to our side of the valley, I'll be sure to remind you to drive safe on your way home.

fh451 wrote:

Linked wrote:I've always taken "Drive safe!" as someone wishing me well in the vein of "take care", not instructing me to stay out of the fast lane. Maybe I didn't hear them right.

While I know they don't mean it that way, I've often felt kind of like Korihor when someone says "Drive safe!" They mean "I hope you travel safely" but in my mind I'll think "What, like I was going to drive like a bat out of hell?!" Glad I'm not the only one!

fh451

We had breakfast with some friends that were heading back to LA from Tucson last weekend. I told him "Drive safe" mainly because he was showing us his new 5.0 liter Mustang that he'd just bought. And because he used to be our insurance agent and made us a bet that every one of our kids would get in an accident within their first year of driving - which none of them did and he had to pay up $100. I just like to rub a little lemon juice in that wound!

Well, I just told my wife to "Drive safe!!" Then I remembered this thread. Oops. It was meant in a good way...

Korihor wrote:

Meilingkie wrote:Just call home when your arrive.
It worked wonders, mom stopped asking when she noticed I cared for her worries.

I intentionally don't call them when we arrive just in spite.

Hahaha. Reminds me of when I was a kid and if someone told me to do something I was already planning or starting to do-I'd stop.

Last 1/2 minute:
https://youtu.be/BMm9570-Vns