A few years ago, my husband and I left our convenient life in the city and headed eight miles west, to the suburbs. It was a tough decision. We had both spent our entire adult lives within the limits of big cities, and we knew the ’burbs were going to be different. It would be quieter, we would have to mow the lawn and we would be driving more. But we also knew the suburban lifestyle would be more suitable to our future plans.
The first week in our new home, we decided to go out for dinner. We drove to the downtown area and chose a nice little Italian restaurant. There, we had a pre-dinner cocktail and a bottle of wine with dinner. When the meal was over, we walked out of the restaurant, and rather than hailing a cab like we used to, we started heading toward the car. And that’s when it hit us: We couldn’t drive home. After a brief attempt to “sober up” by drinking Diet Cokes for an hour at a local bar, we accepted our fate and walked. Was it tempting to say, “It’s only a mile and a half. We’ll make it if we drive.”? Yes, of course. But neither of us wanted to take the risk. Lesson learned.
