Highway to Hell
The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History December 1 - 7.
I do not like driving. Never have, never will. I think a part of that feeling comes from the idea that I am the youngest of five, so growing up at any given time, I potentially had five to six chauffeurs to take me anywhere. Why drive yourself when someone else can do it?
Driving is stressful. That’s the nicest way to put it. Unless you are in a convertible on a beautiful summer day, with the top down and winding along on a road where one side features the ocean, every time you get into a car to go somewhere, you are about to enter a world of stress.
Now there is stress, like a daily commute to work, and then there is driving Interstate 95, especially during the holidays, which is a full-contact sport.
Over Thanksgiving, Anonymous, Blue, and I packed ourselves into the Subaru Forrester and headed south to Florida, where Anonymous’s parents live. It’s about a ten-hour drive.
On Tuesday, we made it in about 13 hours.
According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), 90% of Thanksgiving travel was done by vehicles. That means about 73 million people took to the roads, another record that has eclipsed the pre-COVID days.
I believe about 65 million of these people converged onto I-95 from Fayetteville, North Carolina, crammed along beside me, and traveled through South Carolina.
Being on I-95 in South Carolina is a real treat. It’s about 200 miles from when you enter the Palmetto State to when you are finally freed, and you arrive in another state that handles the interstate highway system much better. But until that moment, and you are stuck in South Carolina, you encounter so many pleasant things.
Like numerous dead animal carcasses that line the side of the road, along with many makeshift crosses in memory of those who have lost their lives, and billboards that go from “Save Me, Jesus” proclamations to calling Jeff at 1-800-777-777 in case someone has run their vehicle into you.
In 2019, I worked in South Carolina for 6 months as a consultant on a major project that required driving throughout the state. We had a team of seven, and four of us had experienced being in a car accident while working there. I have traumatic memories of hearing daily announcements on the local radio stations of a fatal crash somewhere nearby.
What’s special about South Carolina is its desire to maintain two lanes at all times. It is a two-lane sandwich between two slices of a three to four-lane highway in North Carolina and Georgia. Driving through that state just leaves a bad taste in your mouth, which is why, years ago, I ranked it so low, and that caused people to react passionately. Nothing in my mind has changed since.
We made it to Florida without having to call any accident lawyers, and I did reiterate to Jesus that I do love him.
I am happy to report we made it home on Saturday in 10 hours and 40 minutes.
But put me on a plane anytime.
Okay, let’s highlight what else happened this week. As a reminder, these events mark their anniversary, ending in 5 or 0. Here’s what I got:
1. Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955. Twelve years earlier, Parks entered a Montgomery bus at the front, paid her fare, then refused to exit and reenter at the back, as the Jim Crow rules in the town required. James Blake, the same terrible bus driver during that encounter, was back at this time when Parks refused to give up her seat to a white dude. It sparked a year-long boycott and the Civil Rights movement, and made Parks a national hero. She passed away in 2005. James Blake is probably driving a bus in hell.
2. Shaw University was founded on December 1, 1865. The first of many Historically Black Colleges and Universities opened to freedmen, allowing them to attend a theology class in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. It would eventually purchase 12 acres owned by former Confederate general Rufus Barringer. Shaw is named after Elijah Shaw Jr., a philanthropist who provided the lead gift for the purchase of the main campus.
3. The United States Senate approved US participation in the United Nations on December 4, 1945. The global intergovernmental organization was launched in June, with five permanent members of the Security Council – Great Britain, the Soviet Union, France, China, and the United States. Shaw University graduate Angie Brooks was the first African woman to serve as president of the United Nations General Assembly in 1970. Isn’t that cool how historic things are connected! I bet James Blake doesn’t think so. Then again, nothing is cool where James Blake is right now.
Speaking of cool, December is here, and with it, a hectic month. Anonymous leaves on Wednesday for a week, only to return for a few days, before leaving again for a few days. In the meantime, my work will be going about 100 miles per hour as we come to the end of another year.
I’m not complaining at all. I’m mentioning it as a reminder to myself that everything will be okay. I love my job, and it provides me with many exciting opportunities. If you are entering December with a ton of stuff going on – I’m here with ya!
I’ll be back on Friday with an essay. I already started one yesterday.
Appreciate your support of Okay History and hope you have a great week!
Okay,
Chris
I was always amused with the billboard war on that stretch - they alternated between Jesus Saves! and the "adult" store or gentlemen's club at the next exit.
Glad you all had a nice trip.