It was time to head west again. Every two years we retreat to the quiet solitude that is Harstine Island, a medium-sized spit of land surrounded by the chilled ebbing and flowing waters of South Puget Sound.
Seattle gets a bad rap on its weather. For two weeks, we saw nothing but sunshine. Nary a cloud and certainly none of that dreaded Northwestern rain. Of course, August is hardly their rainy season, but no matter. I digress.
All parts of this great country have their own special and wondrous features. All, too, have their foibles.
For example, one of my bugaboos for the DC area is these darn HOV lanes.
HOV? High On Velocity? Help Our Veterans? Heap on Verbosity? No, it’s High Occupancy Vehicle, which means...what?
Many people in the car, truck or bus? Yes, in a way. How many? That depends. Depends on what? Whether you can use a particular lane on the highway. Which lane? The “car pool” lane. Ah!
That wasn’t hard, was it? Now we’re at the bottom of HOV -- somewhat -- although two people in a minivan may not feel as much like a High Occupancy Vehicle as two in an MGB.
Guess I just can’t help myself. Excuse this lambasting of undoubtedly well-meaning bureaucrats. In fact, when I’m not ranting on this op-ed page, I, too, am a well-meaning bureaucrat as are hundreds of thousands of my compatriots in the metro area.
But it raises the question of why our fabulous federal and local officials would choose HOV over other, clearer, though possibly less correct, labels.
Imagine that you and your family are heading out on vacation one morning, not carpooling to work, and you wonder if you can safely use a car pool or HOV lane, especially if you have a huge family.
Maybe merely raising that point presents the answer. Perhaps Eastern bureaucrats chose precise correctness over simple cuteness.
My theory is obtuse, I know. It must be due to oxygen deprivation caused by DC’s higher pollution levels. In the state of Washington, however, they have a lot of trees, even if the logging companies are doing their level best to change that, and that increases the O2 supply
More trees, more oxygen, more clear-thinking highway administrators. As my family and we were driving to the SeaTac airport to return home, I saw a sign explaining one of their diamond-painted driving lanes. It said that only car pools and buses could use it. A picture cleverly depicted an automobile with the numeral two inside it.
The message was obvious and straightforward. It was evident who was supposed to drive there. No need for HOV -- Highly Offensive Vernacular.
What a breath of fresh air.
++++
Fred W. Apelquist, III, M.Ed.
Approximately 455 words.
(c) 1997