transport

I used to believe…

When I was around three years old, I overheard my mother and grandmother talking about car insurance. I asked them what car insurance was. My mother tried to explain, saying something like, "it's a piece of paper that protects your car in case of an accident". I tried to picture this scenario. I imagined a small piece of paper from one of those sticky-pads I liked to draw on at home, stuck on one spot on the front of a car. I became completely confused, wondering how one piece of paper could protect your car in an accident.

I thought that when you were driving there was someone at the front of all the cars... Like it was a line... and i thought the person at the front of the line must have a lot of pressure on his/her back. I didn't understand the concept that people actually had to go somewhere.

I remember being a very little girl...5 or 6...sitting in the backseat with my brother and sister...My great grandmother, perhaps sensing that we might be afraid of the dark told us that whenever we went through tunnels, we should close our eyes and make a wish. If we finished before exiting the tunnel, our wish would come true. That was over 30 years ago, but I still make a wish when I drive through them.

I used to believe that the 'Flying Scotsman' was a guy in a beret and kilt zooming around the sky like a superhero - not just a boring old train. Sam aged 10.

Sam also used to believe that The Beetles were a group of animated cartoon insects that sang.

I used to believe…

As a child, my mother lived near railroad tracks. She and her siblings would throw pebbles at the passing trains, trying to hit them. One time my mom was the only successful kid, and watched the train continue on it's way. Well, for some reason the train derailed on the corner down the tracks, spilling it's load of nickels everywhere. For years my mom believed she knocked that train over with her pebble.

I used to believe…

We used to live a couple miles from a big lake and on the other side of it ran a railroad track. I was very small, but remember the time I heard the train and kept watching for it to come around the curve in the road that ran in front of our house.

I used to think that cars could read your mind when you wanted to turn. When I was finally allowed to sit in the front seat I was very dissapointed that there was a lever that my parents used to make the blinkers turn on.

I used to believe that ferry boats were trains that moved above water. Then the first time I was in one, I spent the whole trip trying to see the railtracks beneath the water line. I don't have to say that I couldn't see any.

I used to believe…

When I was little and I was in kindergarden we went to the train station to see a train inside. Then one of my mates said the train was about to leave, but in portuguese, wich is my country, the train leaving can be said like the train is going to brake, so I was really scared, because I thought that the train was going to break by half with us inside

I used to love Knight Rider when I was a kid. My Dad used to tell me and my brothers that he had Turbo Boost. When we were in the car he flicked a switch and put his foot down. I thought he had the fastest car in town.

It was a Maxi.

My Dad also told me about the 9 O'clock horses.

I used to believe…

To prevent me from sitting in the passenger seat of my Mums car and annoying her on long journeys she used to say that if I didn't sit in the back seat, the car would be unbalanced. This worked for some time before I finally realised that whenever dropping my less troublesome sister off at school she was allowed in the front seat.

I overheard my parents speaking about the Third Party one day - and was furious that they'd managed to sneak the first and second party past me - having a good time behind my back! They then explained that they were talking about third party insurance for the car!

I used to believe…

As well as the old exhaust pushing the car thing, I used to believe that front wheel drive meant the front wheels turned, rear wheel drive the rear wheels would turn and four wheel drive meant all four wheels would turn. Valuable years of my life were wasted, that I shall never get back, trying to figure out how this worked.

I used to believe that cars were pushed along by the exhaust... And that the engine sucked air in to go in reverse... Then, the more exhaust pipes a car had the faster it went. This thought true cause on the tail pipes that pointed towards the ground, when it was cold, it looked like it pushed the car!

I used to think that at each intersection with traffic lights, a little man would sit underground with video cameras. His job was to look to see who had been waiting the longest to see who would get the next green light.

I used to believe that it was the air coming out of a car exhaust (tail pipe) that pushed the car allong...so the faster the car, the more exhausts it had....which is sort of true, so didn't help the matter