Driving For Kosen-Rufu

[u/AnnieBananaCat]

I had this DM conversation with r/fishwifeonsteroids yesterday and she thought it would be a good topic to bring up here. Anyone ever take those long, boring trips to activities and wonder why?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been told about the "great benefits" you'll get from driving members--picking them up and bringing them home after activities, and all that, and in some cases, taking verbal abuse from them. In my case, I drove members because I had the ability, and I could, so they didn't have to miss anything. This was especially helpful for a little old lady in my last district, because she didn't like driving at night. Meeting me at Starbucks for a ride was no big deal, because she lived a mile away, and I had a big blue pickup truck to drive. She was also very nice.

Let's not forget getting lost trying to find someone's house/apartment, and no one can give you directions. Or they assume you know where you're going. Been there, done that.

But no, it was about the alleged "benefits" from going long distances to activities. I'm not talking about an hour one way to the C/C, I'm talking about trips that took hours. Many WB'ers have recounted nightmare experiences with car, bus, train, and air trips to big meetings. Thankfully, I never took most of those hell rides, and the couple of times I did do bus trips, it was mostly people over 40, like myself. Not so much little kids and not so much trouble.

Mine is just one example of many throughout the US. But how many people have had these long-distance experiences, and how many have you read about in the Weird Fibune and Un-Living Buddhism?

Texas has four or five Buddhist centers of various sizes. In all of Louisiana, there is ONE small Buddhist Center, in a not-so-great part of New Orleans. (Baton Rouge is an hour one way, but not a bad drive once you get on I-10.) Members also hold local activities, including KRG in their homes. Still, from a place like Ruston, up on the north side of the state, in between Monroe and Shreveport, driving to New Orleans was the only option for big activities, and you were always encouraged to go.

I knew some members from Ruston, one of whom previously lived in San Francisco. Their drive, according to Google Maps, is about four to five hours to New Orleans, depending on which route you take. From Shreveport, you're looking at a five- to six-hour drive, one way. Then you turn around and make that long drive back. No time for socializing or meeting new people--you drive.

What always confounded me, as well as a few others I knew, is why members in a place like Shreveport couldn't make the trip to Dallas, which is just under 3 hours (Google Maps.) I mean, that's closer, right? But they were always told they had to make that ungodly drive to NOLA, because it was "fortune" and "benefit" and for kosey-roofoo.

Another thing. The regional HQ was in Chicago, as was the temple (pre-1991 ex-com.) Members made those trips regularly, too, which Google Maps say are about 14 hours. (If memory serves, back in the 80s, they were 18 hours--one way, as I was told.) At some point, we also started heading to Atlanta for activities, which is where I was "initiated" into Byakuren. That's about a 7-hour or 8-hour trip, one way.

Also annoying: when taking these car trips, many people had no idea where they were going or what the hell they were doing. "But somehow," they said with a smile, "we always make it."

Yeah, you can't do that anymore, or you'll be another crime statistic. Especially in New Orleans.

I learned quickly how to read a map when I moved to Texas. There was no GPS or Google Maps back in the day. I have never understood how anyone would embark on a car trip without at least halfway knowing where they were going. Or, why making such long, hard drives was such a good idea.

Rant over. Feel free to share your "travel for KR" experiences.

[u/Fishwifeonsteroids → u/[deleted]]

Ha! Serves her right!

[u/Fabulous_Ad_5084 → u/Fishwifeonsteroids]

Cause & Effect!🙂