traffic/ラッシュ

（前回のブログ「new format」から英語と日本語両方使うようにしていたから、よかったらfacebookのノート、あるいはposterousのタブを見てください）
 
A couple of weeks ago, I watched an old episode of Twilight Zone with William Shatner that took place on an airplane. It surprised me to find that I had become so unused to people smoking on planes that the scene looked strange to me, even though I distinctly remembered flying to Taiwan as a child and having my mother ask to be seated as far away from the smoking section as possible during the 14-hour flight. I had all but forgotten that smoking had ever been allowed on planes, but it had only been banned within my lifetime. Granted, I'm not as young as I used to be, but that's still only within the last twenty years or so since I can remember it so clearly :P
 
As I commuted to work for the first time in over five years in L.A. rush hour traffic, I thought about how, soon, people talking into their cell phones while driving would seem as outdated as people smoking in airplanes in old Twilight Zone episodes. I remembered how all the cool people seemed to be able to drive and talk on their cell phones at the same time (all while eating breakfast and changing lanes, as seemed to be the case sometimes). The further I drove into L.A., the more people there seemed to be trying to look important and busy while stuck in bumper to bumper traffic by talking as conspicuously on their cell phones as possible.
 
I lived in Japan for over two years after my last regular commute, and when I came back, the morning rush hour looked a little different. Now the handsets have been replaced by bluetooth headsets and in-car wireless systems, and it makes me feel like we've lost a part of L.A.'s culture, however dangerous it may have been. Of course, just because there's a law in place now making it illegal doesn't mean that people will stop using their cell phones while driving, but now kids my sister's age who have yet to experience L.A. rush hour may think twice before trying to imitate Brad Pitt in that old movie during their first commute.
 
数週間前、いとこの家でウィリアム・シャトナーが出てた飛行機の中で喫煙できる時の古い「トワイライト・ゾーン」を見た。なんか、変な画面だと思ったけど、自分の目で見たことあると思い出した。小さい時、台湾へ行く１４時間の便で母が禁煙席を頼まれたことだった。でも、今もう飛行機の中の禁煙はごく当たり前のことになっただろう。
 
先週、インターンシップを始まって、５年ぶりのロスのラッシュだった。最近、ロスは運転中携帯を使うのが禁止になったせいで、大げさに携帯で話す人がトワイライト・ゾーンの飛行機の中のタバコを吸う人のようになっちゃうかもしれない。以前、ロスの中心に近づけば近づくほどもっとそのような人が見られた。かっこよく見られたかった人がハリウッド映画気分をとりすぎた可能性があったけど、それもロスの魅力の一つだったと思う。
 
それで、２年ちょっと日本に住んでいた。帰ってきたら、朝のラッシュはもう変化した。携帯はもうブルートゥースのヘッドセットや車内システムに代わったから、なんかロスの文化の一部分が失っちゃった気がした。もちろん、法律があってもその法律を守らない人がいるけど、妹のようなラッシュの未経験者は初ロスのラッシュで簡単に何年前のアノ映画のブラッド・ピットの真似できるわけないだろう。