A Time To Drive

I remember sitting in my university one day, and the lecturer was talking about reflexes.

There are two kinds of reflexes. Firstly, there are those that are natural, which is inbuilt into us as humans. Take for example, accidentally brushing your hand against a boiling pot.

All your brilliantly designed neurones will send a message to one another in a matter of miliseconds and your hand withdraws before your brain even has a chance to say "Er, excuse me, Mr. Cheok. If I may please distract you from your girl ogling for just a moment, and draw your attention this way... this way, please, to your burning hand. Could you please, erm... PULL IT THE *(%^ AWAY!!!"

And then there are reflexes which are learnt - the ones that you become good at after years of doing something, like riding a bike for example, until you can do it without really thinking. There are four stages to this reflex:

Unconscious incompetence

• You think to yourself - Riding a bike must be the easiest thing in the world. Look at your five year old neighbour, Loong Loong, happily showing off his crazy bike skills, riding circles around your teenage non-cycling ass, ringing his stupid little bicycle bell mockingly in your face. Stupid runt. I'll show him.
  

Conscious incompetence

• You think to yourself - Oww. This bicycle riding crap is hard! I have fallen off this stupid thing so many times, I've got grass in my nostrils. And there is sand in the cuts on my legs. And in the battle of Bicycle Seat vs. My Groin, let's just say that my future generations are a threatened species.
  

Conscious competence

• You think to yourself - I'm finally doing it! Look Mum, I can finally ride! Whoa, steady there, Mr. Bike. Steady! There, there (pats the bike handlebars calmly, whips his hair out and connects it to the bike using his Tsahaylu). Okay, left, Mr. Bike! Now, right! Now, straight!

Unconscious competence

• You don't really even have to think to yourself .You are one with the bike. There is no bike. There is only me. And there is me knocking over Loong Loong while ringing my bell.
  

Your body learns to do it so well that you could literally "do it in your sleep."

Which brings me to my point:



One of the reflexes that most of us learn in our lifetimes is the driving reflex. I remember wishing that I could drive, finding out that I couldn't, getting palpitations and sweating at the thought of driving into KL city, and finally being able to zip past cars on the Federal Highway without even having to lift a middle finger.

However, since working nights at the ED, I have been travelling home really tired some mornings, and nodding off in the car. It is a dangerous thing, I know. You pull up at a traffic light. There are cars stopped ahead of you. You see these cars in a two-second stroboscopic effect.

Eyes open.
Car with brake lights on.
Eyes close.
Eyes open.
Car with brake lights on.
Eyes close.
Eyes open.
Crap! The light is green, and the car in front has moved really far ahead!

And then you hurriedly press your accelerator, hoping that the car behind you doesn't honk you impatiently. You turn the aircond a little colder, turn the music a little louder, and pinch your nipples. Whatever keeps you awake.

Your reflexes are dulled by your lack of sleep. Reaction times are slower, which is a dangerous thing. Which is why I have resorted to pulling over and taking a nap sometimes which helps somewhat, although not completely. Other times I foolishly try to brave it home.

I think about my sister, and her 36 hour shifts and driving home after that. All I can say is, dear God, would you please look after us.

Amen.