Benefit of the Doubt: The Idea
[This was my submission for Bridgestone's Teens Drive Smart Video Contest for a college scholarship.]
My parents’ van, jam-packed with the trappings of another year at college, passed another van bearing a large, white sign on the roof,which read: SCHOOL BUS. Bemused by this makeshift service vehicle, I turned to Laurence and said, “It’s weird how some people get their own signs, like ‘Baby on Board’ or ‘School Bus.’ Shouldn’t it be common sense that people drive carefully, no matter who’s in the car? It’d be funny if everyone got their own specific signs for like…where they are in their lives.”
“Yeah,” he laughed, “Like ‘New Relationship’ for a couple driving.”
“Yeahh. They should make that a commercial or something.”
And then the Universe (or Zinch, really) dropped this perfect opportunity into my inbox via Bridgestone.
As it turned out, my main actors’ pleasantly cynical and off the wall humor influenced my take on the attitude of defensive driving—basically,assuming that others will not obey traffic rules ever. At the same time, I wanted to offer my own tendency towards empathy. Unlike with subway train rides,where you’re constantly interacting face to face with a community of strangers,with driving, you’re literally separated from others by sheets of metal ,plastic, and glass. Sometimes we forget, and I wanted to bring attention to our human connection. I deeply believe in the words of novelist Chuck Palahniuk, that “things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on. If you can change the way people think…The way they see themselves. The way they see the world. If you do that, you can change the way people live their lives. And that's the only lasting thing you can create.” So, as an aspiring middle/high school teacher, my hope is to not only give a new perspective on driving, but also to raise our sensitivity to the subtleties that we encounter every day that make our lives unique, and therefore, significant.
[This was my submission for Bridgestone's Teens Drive Smart Video Contest for a college scholarship.]
My parents’ van, jam-packed with the trappings of another year at college, passed another van bearing a large, white sign on the roof,which read: SCHOOL BUS. Bemused by this makeshift service vehicle, I turned to Laurence and said, “It’s weird how some people get their own signs, like ‘Baby on Board’ or ‘School Bus.’ Shouldn’t it be common sense that people drive carefully, no matter who’s in the car? It’d be funny if everyone got their own specific signs for like…where they are in their lives.”
“Yeah,” he laughed, “Like ‘New Relationship’ for a couple driving.”
“Yeahh. They should make that a commercial or something.”
And then the Universe (or Zinch, really) dropped this perfect opportunity into my inbox via Bridgestone.
As it turned out, my main actors’ pleasantly cynical and off the wall humor influenced my take on the attitude of defensive driving—basically,assuming that others will not obey traffic rules ever. At the same time, I wanted to offer my own tendency towards empathy. Unlike with subway train rides,where you’re constantly interacting face to face with a community of strangers,with driving, you’re literally separated from others by sheets of metal ,plastic, and glass. Sometimes we forget, and I wanted to bring attention to our human connection. I deeply believe in the words of novelist Chuck Palahniuk, that “things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on. If you can change the way people think…The way they see themselves. The way they see the world. If you do that, you can change the way people live their lives. And that's the only lasting thing you can create.” So, as an aspiring middle/high school teacher, my hope is to not only give a new perspective on driving, but also to raise our sensitivity to the subtleties that we encounter every day that make our lives unique, and therefore, significant.
