Gridlock and Knowlege

Since so much of homeschooling is spent on the 405, I found this to be a very interesting news article. http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_localnyc/highways-to-hell-new-york-may-soon-pass-los-angeles-to-become-gridlock-capital-of-the-country Summing up the article in one sentence (because I know you're busy,) gridlock on the LA freeways is the worst in America, but New York is in close competition. But you are still wondering about my opening sentence. What do I mean that much of our homeschooling is done on the 405? Let me explain.

I always thought that in New York, homeschooling would be more difficult than in LA because of the weather. That's because a large part of homeschooling involves outdoor play, or as we homeschoolers call it "learning." (We call everything learning.) But actually, more time is spent "learning" in the car that outdoors. Possibly even more that at home, if you consider how many outings homeschoolers go on. How many Story of the World CDs have we gone through this year on the 110? How many Torah tapes have we listened to on the I5? How many thoughtful discussions have we had on the way home form book club? Sometimes I am so occupied with the schooling going on in the car that I pass my exit!

There are many who complain about the traffic in LA, myself included. And there are also people trying to fix the situation. About a month ago, someone rang my doorbell in the evening. It was two young women, going door to door in the neighborhood to get people to sign a petition for the California High Speed Train Project. Their selling line was, "Wouldn't it be awesome to have less traffic on the freeways?" When said with a smile, this sounds like a great idea. "Who wouldn't want less traffic on the freeways?" they added, with an extra smile, really driving their point home. Sounds great, I said, but where would the funding for this project come from. From government grants, of course, they answered. And where does the money for government grants come from, I asked. They seemed kind of confused by that one, so I offered the answer: from the citizen's pockets. I told them I will not sign anything that will raise my taxes. The only thing higher than the gridlock in LA is the tax rate. Actually, we have that as well in common with New York.

That is the reason I gave them as to why I don't want to support a project that will lessen congestion on the freeways. There is another reason, which I am pretty sure would render them even more speechless. The more gridlock, the more chapters we complete on Story of the World; while less traffic would mean less education for my children. And who would want that?