Go Karts
Last week, I rode a go kart for the first time since I got my driver's license. Somehow I thought the exhiliration of being able to drive on freeways, pump my music and take myself places would diminish the thrill of go karts. I was horribly mistaken. Go karts have retained all of their appeal and fun. There is something infinitely exciting about racing around a small track in a rickety, sputtering death trap while ignoring all the rules that you've learned in driver's ed.
I enter a zen-like state when I am driving a go kart. I race around the track, fishtailing madly and feeling the steering wheel shake in my hands as the car struggles to turn me around the corners. I prepare quickly for the pass, ride on the offender's tail, and whiz around them when they give me a window of opportunity. I make my six laps in an englightened state; I am one with the go kart and we are the best One of all.
I also enjoy watching people riding go karts. There's always that one little dick who makes it his goal to pass absolutely everybody just for the sake of passing, not because he enjoys it or the speed. There's always that fat, older man who definitely isn't riding it with his kids and clings to the go karts as he once clung to his dreams of Nascar. And then there's that one kid who's either grimacing or smiling, but you can't tell which. She whizzes around the track with a petrified/elated expression plastered on her face, and she is the best driver of the bunch. I am the one who weaves from side to side, preventing people from passing me just to spite that passing-obsessed monster-child.
I have created an In/Out List, accordingly...
OUT: automobiles
IN: GO KARTS
OUT: braking (on turns or really ever)
IN: going full speed around turns and fishtailing
OUT: crashing and exchanging insurance information
IN: crashing and giggling
OUT: keys
IN: hot boys pulling wires to start the motor
OUT: driving to a specific location
IN: racing around a small, winding track
OUT: passing on the left
IN: yelling intimidating things and passing on turns
OUT: windshields
IN: catching bugs with your face
OUT: car payments
IN: ticket stubs
OUT: traffic lights
IN: men blowing whistles
If anything, I think I appreciate go karts more now than I did as a kid. I fully understand now how unsafe and amazing go karts are. You feel the wind whipping around your face, there are no rules to follow, and no one will give you a ticket for spinning somebody into a wall as you pass them. I realize now that go karts and cars have almost nothing in common, and the skills you may possess at one do not, in fact, convey to the other. Those little boys who drive the go karts like pros actually often turn out to be those drivers who inspire fear in the hearts of civilian drivers. For me...good driver, go kart disaster. But I drive my go kart with flair, and that's enough for me.
I enter a zen-like state when I am driving a go kart. I race around the track, fishtailing madly and feeling the steering wheel shake in my hands as the car struggles to turn me around the corners. I prepare quickly for the pass, ride on the offender's tail, and whiz around them when they give me a window of opportunity. I make my six laps in an englightened state; I am one with the go kart and we are the best One of all.
I also enjoy watching people riding go karts. There's always that one little dick who makes it his goal to pass absolutely everybody just for the sake of passing, not because he enjoys it or the speed. There's always that fat, older man who definitely isn't riding it with his kids and clings to the go karts as he once clung to his dreams of Nascar. And then there's that one kid who's either grimacing or smiling, but you can't tell which. She whizzes around the track with a petrified/elated expression plastered on her face, and she is the best driver of the bunch. I am the one who weaves from side to side, preventing people from passing me just to spite that passing-obsessed monster-child.
I have created an In/Out List, accordingly...
OUT: automobiles
IN: GO KARTS
OUT: braking (on turns or really ever)
IN: going full speed around turns and fishtailing
OUT: crashing and exchanging insurance information
IN: crashing and giggling
OUT: keys
IN: hot boys pulling wires to start the motor
OUT: driving to a specific location
IN: racing around a small, winding track
OUT: passing on the left
IN: yelling intimidating things and passing on turns
OUT: windshields
IN: catching bugs with your face
OUT: car payments
IN: ticket stubs
OUT: traffic lights
IN: men blowing whistles
If anything, I think I appreciate go karts more now than I did as a kid. I fully understand now how unsafe and amazing go karts are. You feel the wind whipping around your face, there are no rules to follow, and no one will give you a ticket for spinning somebody into a wall as you pass them. I realize now that go karts and cars have almost nothing in common, and the skills you may possess at one do not, in fact, convey to the other. Those little boys who drive the go karts like pros actually often turn out to be those drivers who inspire fear in the hearts of civilian drivers. For me...good driver, go kart disaster. But I drive my go kart with flair, and that's enough for me.
posted by Meredith at 10:23 PM
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