Last week I wrote about why sitting at the back is favoured by many. I’m sure you’ve been waiting breathlessly for the sequel. Here it is. Pull up a chair, take a place in the front row, and pour your drink of choice. Read on.
For the first more than a dozen years your place was in the back seat of the car. Then, one day you were invited to come up to the front, beside the driver. “Hold on to the steering Gently! Easy!” A couple years later, Dad and I switched places. The back forty was flat, no trees, the wheat had been harvested. Round and on! Eventually, it was time to solo.
There’s only one solo that’s even better. The instructor slips out of the back seat and says, “You’re on your own. Do a couple of circuits. It’s all yours.”
There’s no better front seat than that, but there are other good ones to be had.
The one beside the tour bus driver offers photo opportunities that no one else gets. Besides, at every rest stop, you have first shot at the washroom, the snack bar, or the best vantage point of the waterfall, whatever you’re after.
Getting into the back seat of a two-door car requires you to bow as if you were in front of an apparition and be as svelte and nimble as a contortionist. Besides, all the controls are up front: sound system selection and volume, air-conditioning, heating and seat back angle. However, at times, some couples do find the back seat to be preferable.
Front seat on a tandem bike: you’re too busy shifting, braking, turning, setting the cadence and giving heads-ups on changes to even thinking of handling a camera. The ‘stoker’ just pedals.
Choose your seat with care.
