Salon Grist interviews John Francis, an environmental activist who swore off motorized transportation for more than two decades and kept a vow of silence for 17 years.
The day after you began to speak again, you were hit by a car on the streets of Washington, D.C. I can imagine some people saying, "The universe was sending a message there."
I was thinking, "The universe is sending a message." I'm lying there, and the ambulance comes and they're strapping me down and I said, "Where are we going?" And the ambulance person says, "We're taking you to the hospital, you've been hit by a car." And I said, "You know, I think I can walk." They stop and look at me and say, "Walk? You can't walk. You've been in an accident." And I said, "Well, I don't ride in automobiles. I haven't ridden in an automobile for 17 years. In fact, I didn't speak for 17 years. I just started speaking yesterday." And that's when I see 'em start thinking, "We're taking him to St. Elizabeth's [psychiatric hospital] for observation."
Finally one of the women said, "Why are you afraid of riding in cars? Is it a religious thing?" And I said, "No, it's not religious." "Is it a spiritual practice or something?" I said, "No." She says, "Well, it's principles, huh?" And I grab on to that: "Principles! Yes, it's principles!" And she tells me, "Honey, if you can suspend your principles for five minutes, we can drive your butt to the hospital." And I think about it, and all I come up with is, "I don't think principles work that way. You can't just suspend them for five minutes." Eventually, they let me walk.
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