Skip to main content

Road Trips

I have a few observations from my recent road trip to St. Louis:
~     Billboard advertising, especially along the I94/I80 corridor consists mainly of advertisements for strip clubs, truck stops, casinos, personal injury/bankruptcy attorneys and McDonald's. 
     The strip clubs are often referred to as 'gentlemen's clubs' and I wonder why because I don't think the men glaring at nearly-naked young women and shoving dollar bills down the dancer's g-strings, are gentlemen. According to Webster's the definition of a gentleman is "a chivalrous, courteous, or honorable man".
      And truck stops are at nearly every exit along this corridor- some offer showers. Maybe to shower off after a visit to the 'gentlemen's club'? 
     Casinos - there  were billboards for three in Northern Indiana, six in the Chicago area and four in Michigan. I'm not very good at math, and used a calculator to check my addition, but that's 13 places to lose your money and 13 is not a lucky number! Some of the casinos offer alternatives to gambling that include spas and shopping- and some even present themselves as glamorous. One casino advertised senior days, another an opportunity to win a car every Wednesday in April (or something like that, I don't remember the details).
    Attorneys billboards were mainly personal injury or bankruptcy. I found the latter interesting when it was next to a billboard for a casino- a place where people lose a lot of money! Another attorney billboard advertised personal injury and divorce, it was located near one of the strip clubs. Interesting placement indeed!
   And then there are the McDonald's billboards. Again at nearly every exit there is a McDonald's. And that's why I found it interesting- if you're at nearly every exit why so many billboards? 

 ~  Exceptional drivers all along my drive to and from St. Louis. I'm not commenting on their driving ability so much as on their exception to the law that reads, "left lane for passing only". At one point on our way home Sunday, the only vehicles in the right lane were the trucks and the really slow drivers or us, trying to maneuver along a two-lane interstate. (And we weren't one of the slow drivers!)

 ~   Construction season has begun! The orange cones and signs are everywhere. And while that also means warm weather will soon be here in Michigan, it also means delays & detours.

Comments

Post a Comment

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Lefties and Other Exceptional People

I have had the opportunity to do a lot of driving lately - back-and-forth to Wabash College and to-and-from Holland, Grand Rapids and East Lansing. It's given me lots of time to think and ponder the greater mysteries of the world; like the purpose of life, why my thumbnails always break first, the speed at which a state police officer will actually pull you over for and the theory of relativity. Oh, not THE theory of Relativity - with a capital 'R", created by Mr. Genius Einstein. No, my own theory of relativity - with a lower case 'r'. Created by this less-than-genius mother of three and wife of one! My theory is that the absolute worst drivers are those that drive exclusively in the left lane (I call them lefties) and the ones that believe the rules of the road apply to everyone except them (I call them exceptional people). I call it my own theory of relativity because these drivers are relatively unaware of how to drive. You know the ones that are going the spe...
1 comment
Read more

Pinball wizard is falling

I've had some unusual titles to my posts, but I'm fairly certain this one takes trumps them all! Hold on, it's going to be a bumpy ride getting to the reason for this wacky title . . . I sat down to pray Sunday and was thankful God knew my heart because the prayers were scattered! I started praying for a friend who'd been in a terrible car accident, and then her husband,and then mine who was traveling to see the husband (his bestie, though I'm fairly certain they would never, ever refer to one another as 'besties' and might instead die of embarrassment at the term), then greater understanding into their bond of friendship. Then I got an answer to the prayer of understanding - brotherhood. So then the prayer bounced to my sons that they have such a bond as their father and his friend, and then on to my son Michael's exams in law school and then on to my daughter who also is heading into exam week for her first year in college in St. Louis. Then the pray...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

I put my pride aside and got my ass off the grass and into the wheelchair. {I spent a couple minutes deciding whether to put an exclamation mark after that declaration or to put the period after that statement. I think the period better suits my mood about getting said ass into the wheelchair!} On July 4, Saugatuck has a wonderfully unique parade that includes quirky participants like the artsy-fartsy campers at OxBow art colony and the LGBT members of a local foundation along with the more traditional participants like Girl Scouts, fire trucks, and local politicians. It had been a couple years since I had been to the parade, this year, though, my Mom and sister were in town and I wanted to take them. So we loaded up in the van, including Kerri's wheelchair and my own. Once we parked, John asked if I wanted to use my chair and I initially balked but then remembered that it can be a long, hot parade and it might be better to have a place to sit. So, I acquiesced and took the cha...
2 comments
Read more