It's true, I could ride the

bus, and all adults who commute to their jobs around Atlanta could take

the shuttle, MARTA, taxis, etc. But haven't I (as well as most upperclassmen

who drive) earned the privilege of driving just as adults have? I would

think so.

The reason I and a multitude

of other teenagers at my school drive is because: A) we have before- or

after-school activities (sports, tutoring, etc.), or B) we have immediate

after-school jobs.

I partake in both A and B.

If my parents, as well as parents of others in my situation, had to drive

us to school every morning or pick us up every evening, it would not only

inconvienence them, but their employers, etc. Hence the reason I drive

to school (and often carpool with friends). I pay for all the gas and

maintenence for my car, as well as partial monthly payments to my parents.

No, I am not stupid, and I know this is not how it is in the "real

world."

Continuing, I guess that adults

shouldn't look at teenagers as people that should have any sort of "adult"

privileges, or God forbid, any opinions, right? Because after all, we

are teenagers. Maybe my parents should take my car away, I should

just quit my job and all of my extracurricular activities, and they can

just give me money all the time and drive me everywhere I want to go.

Oh, wait! Then that would make me a "spoiled PTC brat" as many

people already proudly pigeonholed me to be. And good Lord, my parents

would never support me in that sense (and I would never expect them to).

In conclusion, I have now written

yet another letter that will most likely cause another large amount of

hate mail. But, I know that I am speaking for a vast majority of students

at my school, many of whom praised my attempts at clearing up a trivial

problem such as the rainy-day traffic.

I apologize for going completely

off subject, but I think that all of these topics eventually fall under

the same category. And to those of you who are sick of reading about this,

I also apologize, but I figured I'd give it a final shot.

And last Mr. Page, coming

from someone who speaks to young adults in such a pathetic manner as to

use a Tweety Bird/Elmer Fudd-type vocabulary, I need to get a life?

Kerry FitzPatrick

SMHS 2001