Everyone programs certain activities so they are free to think about other matters as they perform them. You brush your teeth, eat your food, drive your car and ride your bike without giving much thought to the motor functions involved.
Recently on a holiday in the Maritimes I was given a rental car with a floor shift. My own car has the shift on the steering column. The rental company brought me down to the busiest corner in downtown Halifax to pick up the vehicle.
As we got ready to launch into the traffic I was given instructions about a left turn here and a right turn there and how to navigate a traffic circle. As I digested this information I reached to put the vehicle in gear.
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A great spray of fluid hit the windshield and the wipers frantically waved back and forth.
Oh yes. Gear shift is down there, not up here.
That windshield was well washed before we got out of Halifax. Since it was a sunny day I got some strange looks from passing Haligonians.
Concentrating on driving the rental car correctly, I smoothly navigated the traffic circle with only one hitch. I drove off the wrong exit and it took us some extra time to find the right road to Lunenburg.
We’re now home after 16 days of driving the rental car. I still fumble around occasionally, feeling with my right hand for the switch to open the window when my car has that function in the left hand door.
When you’ve been reprogrammed it takes a while to get back to the original program.
Maybe my brain would benefit from some new software.
