November 13, 2006

Hello, everyone!

Living abroad for over six months has given all of us
an appreciation for other cultures, yet all that we
encounter in England is processed in comparison to
everything we know in America. There are things back
home that you simply take for granted. I am not
talking about fabulous Mexican food, wide roads or
show of emotions. I am talking about tow trucks.

Parking and driving in every town in England, is a
nightmare. Cars are parked in both directions on both
sides of the street making two lane roads one lane.
In typical British fashion, one polite driver pulls
over to let the other through. No one is bothered.
No road rage. A quick wave of thanks to the driver as
you pass and you're off. It just happens like waiting
in queues forever without the slightest irritation.

Last weekend, however, a small truck parked behind our
house making it impossible for us to leave. We called
the police and they, being good sports, came out and
gave the owner a ticket, but wouldn't tow it! It
would be like someone blocking your driveway (only
imagine two brick walls on either side of your
driveway-not grass), going to London for the weekend
and you not able to have the car removed! Honestly.
Take a moment. Think about how insane this is. The
van's taxes had been paid and, therefore couldn't be
towed! Not even at our expense (we could be sued)!
THREE DAYS WE WERE PARKED IN!

When our street was to be resurfaced, the department
of highway workers dutifully showed up and idled their
trucks in front of our house for hours, but no work
was done. Why? People did not move their cars from
the street even though the signage was up for weeks
posting the start date. NO TOW TRUCKS. NO DENVER
BOOT. Can you imagine that happening in Chicago? On
the street behind us, they actually resurfaced the
street, but around two cars which hadn't been moved.
It makes me crazy!

When I was in college, I went out one Thursday night
(actually I went out a lot of Thursday nights). It
happened to be Holy Thursday. I must have been in a
celebratory mood (What with knowing the ending to the
story~knowing the end of the story makes Easter week,
living museums and birth stories so much more
enjoyable) because Good Friday morning I didn't feel
much like going to class, let alone walking there. I
drove and parked illegally in the campus bookstore
(VBS for all you DeKalb fans out there) parking lot.
I reemerged from class 50 minutes later only to
discover my car missing. It had been towed. I spent
the remainder of my Good Friday scraping money
together, searching for my car and, pretty much losing
my will to live. I learned my lesson and, to this
day, try really, really hard to avoid parking
illegally.

My point is that in a civilized society, cars must be
towed to preserve order. A shared fear moves a
society along. Remember the Metric Scare of the
'70's? Or Michael Jackson?

All continues to go well here. Michael was moved up a
team in rugby, Ryan was made captain of his team and
Siobhan was asked to participate in a field hockey
tournament and suffered her first really nasty injury:
huge hit to the knee. Jim and I went to teacher
conferences Friday evening and I almost have to wonder
why we bother. We have been having the same
conferences over and over, year after year, like we
are living the movie Groundhog Day: Michael would be
a brilliant student if he wasn't so unorganized ("Yes.
We are aware how difficult it is to be successful
when you never have a pencil."). Siobhan is a delight
to have in class ("Yes. They sure are different,
aren't they?") and Ryan talks way too much.

We attended chapel at school last night for a
candlelight Remembrance mass. The British equivalent
to Veterans' Day is a highly respected day. The
chapel at Cheltenham College is magnificent. The
service was quite powerful. The interior of the
chapel is full of brass name plates with former
students who died in action over the last one hundred
plus years (no shortages of wars in England's
history). Those young men were once so much like our
children, sitting in the same pews. Just when I
thought I may be brought to tears Aidan perked up and
enthusiastically said in a loud whisper, "God Save The
Queen!" (I promise you I sang 'My Country Tis of Thee'
in his ear during the national anthem). And there it
was: the loud thump of every Irish ancestor rolling
over in their graves.

That's it for now. As always, I've gone on far too
long. I hope all is well with you and yours. We
think of each of you often.

Love,
T