The Deleted Scenes - Snowed-In Cars and Broken TVs
I saw this thread on Twitter last week, during the big snowstorm that hit Northern Virginia and triggered a nationally covered 24-hour traffic jam on I-95. So here’s my take on the the whole I-95 thing without trying to get judgey. To me, it’s not just about the lack of other options like rail but the endemic and yet incorrect belief in the supremacy of the personal automobile. A thread: (1/6) This isn’t anti-car, per se—what she’s expressing, if you read the whole thing, is that the automobile can give us a false sense of security or even invulnerability. The feeling of power and autonomy you get when you sit behind the wheel is part of why traffic jams can be so frustrating. There’s a dissonance between the exhilaration you get piloting a car and the reality of sitting there. It can also be hard to imagine your car disabled on the side of the road or, in this case, stuck for hours, especially given the reliability of modern cars. (Back in January 2016, I narrowly avoided this very fate—I was meeting some friends in Washington, D.C., and I almost took my car in. But I ultimately took the Metro, and the next morning I heard about overnight jams on the highways.) I took these pictures the day before I read that thread, but I was thinking about some of this when I took them. When I went to dig out the car, I just climbed inside and sat there for a few minutes, in the total silence, with every little bit of outside light blocked out. There was something almost calming about it—being that I was in the parking lot and had nowhere to go—but also kind of spooky, and also humbling. Weather has a way of reminding you how little power a device like a car actually has. It operates on nature’s terms. This made me think of something I’d seen back in the summer of 2020. I had found a pretty big flat-panel television in our building’s trash room, and I brought it up to our unit just to see if it worked. It didn’t look broken, so it was worth a try. But when I plugged it in, this is what I got: You could see it flicker and change colors as it tried to display things, but it had pretty severe cracks in the glass, under the plastic outer layer, that had not been visible when I wasn’t looking for them. It struck me as a sort of metaphor for the unpredictable nature of systemic breakdown. We barely seem to understand a lot of what we’ve built as it is—we have no idea, really, what happens when it starts to come apart in ways we haven’t even imagined. Or maybe we do. Related Reading: Speeding and the Eucharistic Prayer Please consider upgrading to a paid subscription to help support this newsletter. You’ll get a weekend subscribers-only post, plus full access to the archive of over 200 posts and growing. And you’ll help ensure more material like this! You’re a free subscriber to The Deleted Scenes. For the full experience, become a paid subscriber. |
Older messages
More on America's First Outlet Mall
Monday, January 10, 2022
Liberty Village, part 2
What the Heck is a "Oneplex"?
Saturday, January 8, 2022
Thoughts on urbanism and language
New and Old #39
Friday, January 7, 2022
Friday roundup and commentary
Drop Off Your Car for Coffee
Thursday, January 6, 2022
What Do You Think You're Looking At? #39
The 12th Day of Christmas
Wednesday, January 5, 2022
My last Christmas-themed post, till next season!
You Might Also Like
Google Wants You to Use AI for Your Next Vacation 🤔
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Don't Trust These 'Reset Password' Pop-ups on Your Apple Devices. Google has released several new ways you can use AI and other tools to help plan your next vacation, including the
GOP congresswoman blames Green New Deal for bridge collapse
Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Green New Deal, for the record, does not technically exist. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Your Zodiac Sign Should Prepare For Love Affairs In April
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Plus, Lili Reinhart's peach glam look, Bustle's beauty awards are here, & more.
PunchTok Rattles New York Women
Thursday, March 28, 2024
What's new today on the Cut — covering style, self, culture, and power, plus interviews, profiles, columns, and commentary from our editors. Brand Logo THURSDAY, MARCH 28 WAIT WHAT IS HAPPENING ON
The worst mug in your kitchen has an important purpose
Thursday, March 28, 2024
This is the hottest new restaurant trend in LA
Ye Olde Sign Shoppe: Gran Canaria’s Tomás Prieto Gálvez
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Adventures in life, family, and sign painting with Tomás Prieto Gálvez in the Canary Islands. BLAG Magazine: Adventures in Sign Painting Craft, Community & Culture BLAG Magazine: Adventures in Sign
Coffee & tooth damage? We asked an expert
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Your health Qs, answered. Stay informed & stay well with theSkimm theSkimm Read in browser Skimm Well We've Skimm'd the news for you... Now it's time to simplify health and wellness.
That Damned Elusive Parking Spot
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Also a coffee shop bathroom, and not knowing what we really want ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
That Damned Elusive Parking Spot
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Also a coffee shop bathroom, and not knowing what we really want ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
NBC Proves the Media Can't Save Democracy
Thursday, March 28, 2024
The decision to hi former RNC chair is a symptom of a larger problem ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏