Follow the Rules, Part 2: Language Fail

So yesterday we explored rule following and one of its consequences on my life. Well, here's another little story for you... and one which has haunted me for years. 14 years, to be exact. When I was in Driver's Ed., I wanted to be the best little driver that instructor had ever seen. I was going to win Driver's Ed. What happened while we were driving, though, is really a result of a problem with the English language...

I'm driving along, being a good little driving student... minding the speed limits, using my blinker, coming to a full, controlled stop at stop signs, parking with care, etc... when the instructor mumbles something to the effect of, "You lose speed around turns." That was the end of his commentary. I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn't really have an opportunity to ask for clarification, but what I wanted to know was, "Do you mean I lose speed around turns or that one should lose speed around turns?" In other words, had I slowed satisfactorily? Had I slowed down too much? Was I losing too much speed around the turns? Or was he just making a general comment to suggest that "people slow down to make turns?" Now, I have come to realize since then that, yes, it is a requirement to slow down when making a turn, but... did I slow down too much that day? I don't even recall the exact turn. You might even argue that it's unimportant, but I obviously have stored this as a long-term memory for a reason. "What did he mean???" I have often wondered...

If only English were as great a language as French and made a distinction between "you" and "one"... this might not have kept me awake so many nights and interrupted so many of my daydreams. My life might have been completely different. Language fail.

In English, we do have the word "one"... this clumsy and cumbersome word for "people" that could be used if it just didn't sound so ridiculously formal. "One should do one's homework." "One should pay one's taxes." "One should slow around turns while driving." *le sigh*

I will very likely never know exactly what he meant by that, but isn't it funny how language - a tool we use to communicate what we're thinking and feeling - can fail us and leave someone feeling unsure of what was meant. Language itself is so limited - by words, intonation, structure; its horizons are also delimited by culture. So the fact that this Driver's Ed instructor wasn't able to perfectly communicate what he was trying to say - which was quite possibly a rule, which has subsequently caused me to question my driving skills since I was 16 years old - is no surprise really.

What I'm trying to say, I think, is that I wish he had kept his stupid mouth shut and just gave me my certificate already.