There’s a side street in town often used as a shortcut between two major roads. I go down it often, though I’ve recently found a better shortcut. It’s a residential street than also has a private school on it. Recently, after calls from residents to take action, the city tried to calm traffic by installing giant speed bumps at several locations across the road. These are the several inches high, several feet wide, kind of speed bumps. R.E.M. front man Michael Stipe, who owns a rental house on the street, is not at all happy. Personally, I find them welcome. If you drive the speed limit, you don’t even have to slow down. But if you’re speeding, they’ll mess your car up. One morning, as I was driving through the school zone (complete with flashin yellow lights), I had a jerk in a big truck pass me doing sixty or so. This was not unusual.