transport

i used to believe that to drive a car, the steering wheel had to be turned back and forth constantly as they do in cartoons. it never dawned on me to observe the way real people drive.

I used to think that the signs on the side of the road that said "Do Not Pass", meant do not pass that point. I would yell at my mom and tell her to turn the car around, and would get scared something was going to happen, when she didn't.

I used to believe…

For the longest time, I never understood the road signs- Pedestrian Xing. Truck Xing. Deer Xing. "What in the heck does xing mean", I thought. "And how did you pronounce it"?

I used to believe…

When me and my sister were little, we thought that "rolling" our arms (putting them in front of our stomachs and making circles around and around) would make the car go faster. So when our family would make long trips on the highway, we'd say "dad, that car's coming up on us. We'll roll our arms to make us go faster". And we'd sit there and madly move our arms in circles, and little by little, we'd go faster. How stupid we were-didn't we know a car has such thing as a gas pedal?!

I used to think that my mom controlled the traffic lights because she'd say the incantation that the Sesame Street magician said, right as the other light was turning yellow. So she'd say, "A la peanut butter sandwiches," and the light would instantly turn green!!!

I used to think the sign on lorries that said Long Vehicle said Long Voyage no idea why as I was always good at reading!

I used to believe…

Our teacher in 4th or 5th grade, actually had us believing that by the time we graduated from High School, we would all be travelling in cars that floated on air, like in that cartoon, "The Jetsons" or something...LOL..What a hoot! That would have been in the 80's by the way...

I used to believe…

When I was pretty little, I liked to stick my head out of the car window as we were driving. My dad told me that if I stuck my head out there as we were driving to close to something my head would of course be chopped off. Now, I never sat behind my dad, because he always had his seat pushed back so far it was really uncomfortable. Therefore it never occurred to me that he could be talking about other cars. There was never anything on the outside side of the car but trees, and it didn't seem like a tree branch could really cut your head off, it just wasn't sharp enough. I concluded that there must be a certain kind of tree that had razor-sharp branches specifiacally designed to defend it from little kids hanging out of car windows.

I used to think that when car headlights would shine in your room as they drove past they were actually scanning the room to make sure you were there and that you had to hold your breath ot they would take you away.

I used to believe…

When I was young I used to believe that there were tiny little men that lived in the traffic lights and that they would watch the traffic and change the lights according to how many cars were in front of them.

I used to think that the railing you see on highways was what made the road called a "turnpike" and so was confused when I would see them on regular streets.

I used to believe…

when i was little my father always told me that the lights on top of the bridge towers were operated by little people who flicked their lighters.

I grew up in South Africa. Road names are marked as R10 or R60 etc. The currency in South Africa is the Rand (note the capital R), so I believed that the R10 or R60 signs I saw along the road, was the amount of the fine you would get if you were speeding on that road.

I used to believe…

when i was growing up in the sixies in Ireland my brothers and sisters used to tell me that airplains were German war planes and everytime a plane went by i ran to my house shouting THE GERMANS ARE COMING

I used to believe…

when I was younger (I am still a child as I am only 17 now), I thought that the "do not pass" signs meant you couldn't move past the sign. It always upset me because I thought my parents were breaking the law.
I thought this until I read the drivers manual at age 14.

I used to think that their were little people hiding inside the street lights, watching traffic and changing the lights