WHEN OUR 18-year-old daughter told us she was going to drive alone from North Carolina to upstate New York, my husband and I suffered qualms of parental concern. But when she arrived safe and sound, she told us a story that brought tears to our eyes. On the route north, she kept passing and being passed by several big trucks. She drove her little car between the trucks on level spots, and then passed them when they slowed down on hills. Grins and waves were exchanged as the miles rolled by. Near Baltimore, the trucks tooted a farewell and took a road heading east. When our daughter stopped for gas in Pennsylvania, a trucker came up to her. "Are you 'Little Sister'?" he asked. "Pardon me?" she said, surprised. "Is that your little car with the New York plates?" he persisted. She answered yes, and he said, "Glad to see you're okay. Truckers down Carolina way have been on their CBs telling everyone to watch out for 'Little Sister' 'cause she's traveling alone." -- Contributed to Reader's Digest "Life in These United States" by P M

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001