I am a New Yorker-I was born and raised there. I went to New York City public schools and as a New York City native, I learned how to
drive there. In New York City, you
cannot make a right turn at a red light; when the light is red: you stop,
period. Yes, I am sure you all have
stories about how that didn’t happen when you were there, and how the driver
then cursed at you when you got in their way, but I apologized then and I meant it. I was also taught to always use my signals
when making a turn.
Now, I live in Massachusetts where turning right on red is
the rule, not the exception, and I wonder if the cars even come equipped
with signals. However, old habits die hard and I often find
myself sitting at a red light, with my right turn signal on, waiting for the
light to change. Fellow drivers are nice
enough to remind me (using both sounds and gestures) that I needn’t wait and my
husband just looks at me and says, “right on red, right on red” like it should
be my new Boston driving mantra. Even my
4-year-old will say, “you can go Mommy, even though the light is rojo.” (Thank you Dora and Diego).
At the end of the spring semester, our faculty voted to let
us (as well as the legal writing faculty) have voting rights at faculty meetings. It was an incredible feeling to finally be
able to vote on proposals I had worked on or committee recommendations that I
had drafted. After all, I have worked here for nine years and I am thrilled with all the
progress we have made in that time. I am truly looking forward to voting at meetings this year; that is, if
I can remember to actually vote.
Immediately following the “vote for the vote” we had another item on the agenda that required a vote and when the faculty was
called upon to vote, I just sat there in my chair. I didn’t raise my hand for yes or no-nope, I
just sat there with my signals on waiting for the light to turn green.
(ezs)
