Lexington, KY - Whenever I am visiting back home, one of my favorite stop offs before making the trek back to Lexington is my grandparents' house, for a number of good reasons - there is usually some food I can pilfer and they slip me some gas money for remedying some small glitch on their laptop, which I always refuse before acquiescing. They're also affable company.
With my car parked in front of their house, they always walk me out while we say our goodbyes, and they'll stand on the porch while they see me off. Like clockwork, as I'm climbing into my car, I'll hear my grandpa call, "Hey Robbie, what's the number one rule of the road?" A bit of a polyhistor, Papa (as we call him) always has a good trivia question he can offer up - I've known where the Bay of Fundy is located since elementary school (it's between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) - but this particular question is one of his own pearls of wisdom.
The first time I heard the question was when I began driving, and knowing how wary parents and grandparents could be, with good reason, when their children learn to operate amotorized vehicle, I thought this was a droll way of reminding me to put on my seat belt. "No," he said, "that's the second rule." The number one rule of the road, according to Papa, is courtesy. By his reasoning, as long as you're being courteous, the chances of something bad happening to you are diminished, if only ever so slightly.
Since I was always asked this question while getting into my car, and it referred to a road, as I got older I thought this rule was just one of his tenets for safe driving. Be a courteous driver: let other cars into traffic, don't succumb to road rage, use your turn signal, don't tailgate - all good tips each driver should adhere to, but now I know he was getting at something on a far grander scale.
He meant whatever I was doing in life - driving, working, playing, whatever - do it politely, do it with courtesy. I can't think of a person who practiced what they preached as wholesomely and wholeheartedly as Papa did.
Being courteous seems obvious, but as we approach January's resolution season, maybe some of us need to reacquaint ourselves with the number one rule of the road. I know Papa would be grateful that I'm trying to impart some of his guidance on this magazine's readers.
And I'll need some help remembering the rule myself, since Papa isn't going to be around anymore to remind me while I get in my car. We lost him just before Thanksgiving, and it's been a difficult holiday season without our patriarch at the head of the dinner table.
We're all sure going to miss him, but at least I called his share of the deviled eggs at Christmas dinners.