"Autonomous Cars"

     You remember how technologically challenged I am?  (You should.  I write about it often enough!)  Well, I even surprise myself at times.  I purchased a new shredder recently, and I could not get the contraption to work. (Does anyone even say contraption anymore?) I flicked the on/off switch repeatedly, to no avail. I slathered oil all over the blades. Nothing. I couldn’t understand it.  The shredder ran when I put it in reverse…

     I really didn’t want to go hauling the thing back to Target.  I sat staring at the shredder, pondering my dilemma, when in walks my son. In all his brilliance, he asked me if, once I’d turned the shredder on, I tried putting paper in it…Oops!

     I was recently reading an article regarding autonomous cars, that is, cars that drive themselves.  They are legal in a number of states.  Why?  There is no law on the books that indicates cars must have drivers… (I’m not kidding.  That’s what the article said!)

     The cars are supposed to be infinitely safer, because they eliminate the possibility of human error.  Personally, I have mixed feeling about the science fiction like means of transportation.  On the one hand, an autonomous car would prove beneficial when I encountered a bridge that is too intimidating for me to cross.  On the other hand, would I be able to understand the technology?  Doubtful.  I have great difficulty with paper shredders and I-Pads.  With my limited technological ability, chances are I would program the car to drive itself right off the bridge…which is my ultimate fear to begin with.

     I was born in a city of about 100,000 inhabitants.  We lived on the main drag, which cut a swath clear across the city.  At that time, the street was largely cobblestone, and still had trolley tracks, although they were no longer used.  Far fewer people had cars at that time.  In fact, I can remember horse drawn carts meandering up the street, with mobile merchants selling vegetables, and the rag man, who dealt in or collected rags and sharpened knives.  The milkman delivered milk and butter daily, depositing it in a metal box which sat outside our front door. 

   The transition from horse drawn carts to autonomous cars is drastic, to say the least.  Considering my history, is it surprising at all that I am technologically challenged?  Not in my estimation.  In fact, I’m beginning to consider myself to be rather progressive...