We have mass transit down here in Peachtree City. Everyone uses it. They are called golf carts. No we don't play that much golf. Our carts are configured so there are two seats on the front, where you'd expect them to be, and two more on the back, where golf clubs would go, if we played golf. Of course four seats won't accomodate everyone, so some carts are extended, like limos, with an extra set of seats. The six seater is so common that you don't notice them. For some reason, and this is hard to understand, people don't ride in golf carts alone. They ride in groups. Twos and threes for sure, but fives and sevens are just as common. Oh and the dogs come along too. Big dogs, small dogs, sometimes two dogs, but rarely cats.

Where do we go? We go everywhere. There are 100 miles of golf cart paths in our city. We own about 10,000 golf carts. You can drive them supervised at age 12 and unsupervised at 15. Drivers education instructors say Peachtree City kids are the best drivers they've seen in cars because they've had so much golf cart experience. The kids make it interesting. They drive too fast always and come whizzing past you on the narrow pathways. It's as though they have not yet become acquainted with the brake pedal. When I asked my 9th grade girls chorus last year, "How many of you have been in a golf cart wreck?" They all raised their hands. Yes some do have seat belts, but most don't. The speed limit on most cars is 19, a governor slows you rolling down hill, and many many of them will not go that fast, but still, running into a tree at 19 mph can give you quite a jolt.

The other evening we rode to the lake just before sundown to look at the evening. I had a spot in mind where I wanted to sit and view. When we got there we had to laugh out loud, for there were 20 other groups who were already there on their carts, feet up, watching the sunset.

The weirdest thing of all is that for years I worked here and didn't live here and I never saw the golf carts. The paths wind through the green belts and emerge in the back of parking lots at Krogers or McDonalds or the local churches. So carts line the parking areas, but they slip into the woods and disappear without you even seeing them go. Most have utilitarian carts, but ours looks like a rolling circus wagon. It's bright yellow with a yellow striped top and green and yellow piped leather seats. We turn heads. Many have radios, but we prefer the quiet. Most have rain gear that rolls down, and headlights for getting back home at night. And this will get you. They almost all have the same key so almost everyone is on the honor system not to "borrow" someone else's cart.

I live in Peachtree City, but people here call it "the bubble."