On a recent drive from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie, I began to wonder if the practice of turning off your high beams had gone by the wayside.
It was mid September and I had left Thunder Bay later than planned - at around 2 p.m., which meant the last few hours of my journey were in total darkness.
I began to take note of the number of drivers who didn't turn off their high beams as they approached. This mental tally was a way to determine if people still did this as a courtesy.
For a brief period, if cars and trucks didn't turn off their high beams then I wouldn't either.
There was a moment where I thought someone was high beaming me, but when I turned my high beams back on they really let me have it - by turning on high beams that felt like they had the brightness of a thousand suns.
During this tally that I was undertaking, I started to think of it as a for and an against. If there were more people who didn't high beam me than who did, the gesture was still in effect.
But, if more people high beamed me than didn't then the gesture had gone by the wayside.
Through all of this long drive in the dark, I began thinking of a story I heard in school.
I may be misremembering this, but I believe Martin Luther King Jr. was travelling in the passenger seat of a car late one night with his brother-in-law when someone high beamed them.
His brother-in-law wanted to turn on his high beams in retaliation, but King told him not to.
“An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind,” King said.
The conclusion I came to is it doesn't matter what the majority of drivers are doing, what truly matters is the way I act.
I made up my mind that I should think of my choice as what will determine the norm.
As the new editor at SooToday and a new Saultite, I would love it if you told me what makes this city great - either by commenting on this story or by contacting me at brandon@sootoday.com.