Today is Sunday, September 17and there are only 90 days until National Chocolate-covered Anything Day so make sure you have your chocolate fountain reserved.  Today we remember the birthdays of King Wenceslas II, Thomas Andrew Hendricks and David Souter.  On this day in 1630 the city of Boston was formed, in 1873 19 students attended the opening class of Ohio State University and in 1978 Begin, Sadat and Carter signed the Camp David accord.  Today in Burundi the Victory of Uprona is being celebrated, in the US it is Citizenship Day and National Apple Dumpling Day.

Recently, I drove to the airport to pick Barbara up after her trip back to South Carolina.  I got there a bit early and had the chance to drive around the airport several times.  I was amazed at the number of people who have no idea what they are doing when they drive around a place like that.  The airport is not all that complicated if you pay attention to what you are doing and read the signs.  The signs are big, relatively clear and numerous.  In addition, the information is repeated several times.  If you are looking for the exit from the airport, simply follow the large signs that say “Airport Exit” with arrows pointing in the direction you should go.

Having watched people driving around, I think it should be a requirement that they be able to read and understand English before they can get a driver’s license.  Not that that would solve all the problems, but it would help.  They should also have to pass a test for common sense.  THAT would eliminate a good number of the cars on the road … but I digress.  I am not sure what they think the arrows represent, but there were some people who obviously did not think they indicated the direction you should go for something.  

One person I saw was driving along and then pushed to the left, cutting off several cars in the process.  We drove for a minute or two and suddenly he swerved back to the right.  He apparently wanted to exit.  I have no idea why he went left when he did.  We had just passed a sign which indicated that the exit was the right two lanes, with arrows!  By the time he got back over, he had missed the turnoff.  The normal person would have gone ahead and found the next spot for an exit.  This mental midget decided to stop, put on his emergency flashers and back up – in the travel lane – to get where he wanted to go.

I saw another person who was driving about 10 miles an hour trying to figure out where he was going.  He had pulled out from the same terminal I had been at and I assumed he was going to do a go-around, like I was, waiting for the person he had come to pick up.  When we got to a critical point in the circuit, instead of following the signs for Terminal A, which was where we were heading, he followed the signs for Terminal A Budget Parking.  I saw him again later, but he still was obviously unsure of what he was doing and where to go to do it.  I wonder if he had to pay to go through the parking lot.

One thing that puzzles me at the airport is the Cell Phone Lot.  I have been to this airport on a number of occasions.  Because I am never sure of what traffic will be like, I always allow ample time to get there.  I have always thought that the Cell Phone Lot would be good, because then I could just pull in, park and wait for a text saying “I have my luggage, come and get me.”  The problem is that I can never find it.  

When you first get onto the airport property, there are signs for car rental drop-offs, parking, terminals and the Cell Phone Lot.  As you go along, those various signs send you in the proper direction for what you want to do.  At each juncture, there is a sign for the Cell Phone Lot.  That is until you come to a section where you have three different choices for where to go.  There is a sign indicating which way to go for the terminals, but nothing that tells you where to go for anything else.  The first couple times I went looking for the lot, I reached that point and figured I had missed the sign telling me where to go.  I went toward the terminal and made the circuit again, trying to be more alert so that I would not miss the sign.  I have never seen one.  I have had other people in the car with me who have never seen it and I have no idea where the lot is or how to get to it.  I am not even convinced that there actually is such a lot.  If I ever find it, I will let you know.

Here is an issue that I have seen a number of times, people who wait until they are driving to put their seat belt on.  I watched a person the other day at the grocery store (yes I do go there a lot).  She was driving out of the parking lot and trying to put her seat belt on without stopping the car.  I watched as she struggled to get the belt on, swerving to the left as she grabbed the belt and then swerving right as she got it on and tried to buckle it.  She had two kids in the car with her, but I couldn’t see if they were buckled.  I hope they were based on the way she was going.

This week our fact tells us that legislation passed during WWI making it illegal to say “gesundheit” when someone sneezed was never repealed.  I would like to know what the penalty is and who do I report it to.  There have been a few occasions when I would have liked to have the chance to have that law enforced.  Here’s a scene – you sneeze and the guy behind you, wanting to show off his eruditeness, smiles and says “gesundheit.”  A minute later, two guys come up to him, flash their FBI creds and tell him he is under arrest.  He claims he wants a lawyer and they tell him to forget it, using that word makes him a supporter of a foreign power.  He is considered a terrorist and is on his way to Gitmo.  They drag him off and he is never seen again.  Do yourself a favor.  When someone sneezes, say “God bless you.”  At least until someone decides you are forcing religion on them and a law is passed prohibiting the use of the word “God.”