What do you do in your car besides drive it?

Lana - Mamamia Thursday 9 February 2012 12:32pm

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I carry tweezers in my car. Not for auto-electrical emergencies or anything like that – my tweezers are for stray hairs. And combatting boredom in the car.

My attention span is not very long and I get bored at traffic lights, waiting in queues or sitting outside the school waiting for my son to finish saying goodbye to every single person he’s ever seen before he gets into the car to come home.

I carry tweezers because I find those boring moments can be easily filled by looking carefully at the rear view mirror and plucking any stray hairs on my face – or indeed any gray hairs on my head.  I have lots.

I never tweeze when I’m driving though. No, when I am driving I eat or I answer back to the radio. I’ve tried to just drive, I really have but I get so bored! I pay full attention to the road and I resist the allure of my phone (unless there is a really long traffic light or you, know a traffic jam that does not move) but I am not very good at just sitting with myself I guess.

Last week in Sydney police launched Operation Freeflow which targets people who spend time in their car doing things other than driving, like shaving, applying makeup, eating breakfast and I guess,  tweezing.

Apparently these activities have caused more than 14,000 accidents over the past three years on Sydney’s busiest highways. Although they DID NOT mention tweezing in their report….

So you think tweezing is bad, or even shaving, but last week Richard Glover opened up the lines on his afternoon show on 702 to ask people what they had witnessed other drivers doing in their cars.   The people who called in reported amongst other things

- Someone playing the guitar whilst driving. Window open guitar in the breeze and fingers on the strings. Knees come in handy when driving whilst strumming. Apparently

- One caller told how she had witnessed a mum breastfeeding while driving. No not handing a baby a bottle – actually breastfeeding. Behind the wheel.

- Someone else had decided that there was no time like drive time to put eyedrops in. Don’t even think about the no hands on wheel thing – think about the no vision for a minute thing and be grateful you weren’t on that road.

- Think that’s far fetched ? Try the man who had a little hot plate on his dashboard and cooked a steak while driving. Brings a whole new dimension to drive through dining.

Of course there are the breakfast eaters (gulp, that’s me), the make up appliers and the tooth flossers (yes really)  but there are also the people that just don’t see the distinction between their cars and their homes.  You know – the people who carry a hot plate in their cars or eyedrops. Even a guitar.

I may also be one of these people.  In fact the other day I told my son to keep his tae kwondo bag in my boot. Permanently. I think it’s a great storage place, we never need it in the house and you know, storage in the house is at a premium because I am a neat freak in my home. Less so in my car.

I have in my car, at any given time a change of clothes (not including the pile of things I am meant to take to the dry cleaner), a few assorted sports accessories, toys (for the dog), assorted tupperwares, way too much lipstick and at least one pair of shoes. Also for some reason books. Oh I also have three tweezers.

Is your car a travelling home? Do you use your car for anything apart from driving?