2012 and Still No Flying Cars, Thank God

Well, the new year has arrived with its usual flurry of unrealistic expectations, futile regrets and insincere protestations of improvement.  This, to my mind, is the most important benefit to changing our year every three hundred and sixty five days or so.  It allows us to officially put a years worth of disappointments, failures and other various catastrophes behind us with a clear conscience and focus on those to come.  It doesn't seem to occur to anyone that they are also placing a temporal barrier between themselves and any success or happiness that might have occurred in the previous twelve months as well.

With 2011 now torn from our reality and cast adrift like an iceberg on the ocean of history we can focus on inching our way painfully up the glacier of the future.  Ignore that ocean liner of potential consequences approaching the previous year, it will probably turn in time.

So, this is the future huh?  Hmm, still no flying cars I see.  It would appear that ever since The Jetsons first graced our tv screens flying cars have been the sine qua non of a successful future.  In the absence of these harbingers of developed civilisation we will just have to struggle on as best we can.

Perhaps its a good thing that flying cars aren't on the agenda just yet.  People already complain about the amount of pollution in the atmosphere, how are they going to react when they can't draw a breath without the risk of inhaling a quarter of a tonne of metal and plastic?  That's before we factor in accidents.  Life is going to be just that little bit more interesting when the weather reports have to include the phrase "possible showers of auto parts".  I recommend a sturdy umbrella.  Breakdowns will become a lot more significant when they occur a couple of thousand metres up in the air as well.  A car will have engine problems, the driver will attempt to put it down on an aircraft runway but will overshoot with tragic consequences.

All in all perhaps the best sign for a hopeful future is the absence of flying cars.  When people start doing pre flight checks before driving to work you know that humanity is doomed.