Driving Ms. Mavey

Part of the deal on the new job is that Rita comes to Oxford with me 1 week a month (assuming going down Wednesday and leaving Friday constitutes a week, of course).  “Rita in Mississippi” would be the best reality show ever, but there is likely to be so much bleeping as to make it unwatchable. 

First, let me say in 10 years together, I don’t know that we’ve ever driven a backroads together.  (There is probably some cause-and-effect in the preceding sentence and I don’t believe the next 10 years will benefit from a reversal of this policy.)  While I offered to drive, Rita hasn’t seen the passenger seat of my car since El Diavolo forced that condition upon her.  El Diavolo caused a lot of disruptions, but none more scarring than being my passenger for six months.  What I discovered on the 2 hr. drive from Jackson TN to Oxford is that Rita is a “Drifter”- a little loose with the lane assignments – oncoming traffic be damned.  So really...Rita’s approach to traffic is not that dissimilar from her approach to most exchanges – not quite over the line, but often veering close enough as to make me a titch uncomfortable.  

And what’s more, as Rita “drifts” toward that left hand lane of oncoming traffic, I get in trouble for taking a big breath and startling her.  So now you now when my time comes, I’ll be the one who goes silently because I’ve been trained to look death in the eye and not make a sound.