Don’t Run the Stop Signs

Love is Like a Two-Way Street In the 1980’s movie National Lampoon’s Vacation, Clark Griswold takes his family on vacation in a heavy laden, pea-green station wagon. While driving his family across the country, he sees a fast approaching, red Ferrari convertible in his rearview mirror. A beautiful young woman pulls alongside of their dilapidated station wagon just before zooming past it. Clark desperately tries to focus and keep his car in the proper lane, while trying to extend his brief highway encounter with the young woman. He recklessly pushes his overloaded station wagon to its limit to catch up with the beautiful vixen just to see her quickly wave goodbye and speed off into the distance. This brief but awkwardly funny scene caused me to think about the multifaceted complexities of interpersonal relationships with a fresh perspective. I was fascinated by the simple components of the scene. The first thing I noticed was that each vehicle was suitable for each driver. For instance, the station wagon is a slow, bulky, and an extremely functional vehicle for a normal sized family. This was the perfect vehicle for Clark Griswold, the family man. In contrast, I saw what appeared to be a flirtatious woman traveling alone in the same direction as the Griswold’s, but at a considerably faster speed. Her convertible Ferrari was fast, sleek, and seemingly fun to drive. There were no passengers as this beautiful woman, weaving in out of the loose interstate traffic, rode alone. Both vehicles are versatile and perfectly suited for the purposes of each demographic. Now, what does this have to do with your relationship? First, each vehicle in the scene was on the same road, which is symbolic of every person’s journey on the road of life and love. It is on this road that we all see many different types of relationships: friends, family, and even romantic relationships. There are a plethora of relationship possibilities on this journey. We will meet many different people with different agendas, seasons of life, and various stages of love. Whether we know it or not, we all are thrusted into a collision course with life, love, and each other.